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Eriksson MH, Prentice F, Piper RJ, Wagstyl K, Adler S, Chari A, Booth J, Moeller F, Das K, Eltze C, Cooray G, Perez Caballero A, Menzies L, McTague A, Shavel-Jessop S, Tisdall MM, Cross JH, Martin Sanfilippo P, Baldeweg T. Long-term neuropsychological trajectories in children with epilepsy: does surgery halt decline? Brain 2024; 147:2791-2802. [PMID: 38643018 PMCID: PMC11292899 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuropsychological impairments are common in children with drug-resistant epilepsy. It has been proposed that epilepsy surgery might alleviate these impairments by providing seizure freedom; however, findings from prior studies have been inconsistent. We mapped long-term neuropsychological trajectories in children before and after undergoing epilepsy surgery, to measure the impact of disease course and surgery on functioning. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 882 children who had undergone epilepsy surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital (1990-2018). We extracted patient information and neuropsychological functioning [obtained from IQ tests (domains: full-scale IQ, verbal IQ, performance IQ, working memory and processing speed) and tests of academic attainment (reading, spelling and numeracy)] and investigated changes in functioning using regression analyses. We identified 500 children (248 females) who had undergone epilepsy surgery [median age at surgery = 11.9 years, interquartile range = (7.8, 15.0)] and neuropsychological assessment. These children showed declines in all domains of neuropsychological functioning in the time leading up to surgery (all P-values ≤0.001; e.g. βFSIQ = -1.9, SEFSIQ = 0.3, PFSIQ < 0.001). Children lost on average one to four points per year, depending on the domain considered; 27%-43% declined by ≥10 points from their first to their last preoperative assessment. At the time of presurgical evaluation, most children (46%-60%) scored one or more standard deviations below the mean (<85) on the different neuropsychological domains; 37% of these met the threshold for intellectual disability (full-scale IQ < 70). On a group level, there was no change in performance from pre- to postoperative assessment on any of the domains (all P-values ≥0.128). However, children who became seizure free through surgery showed higher postoperative neuropsychological performance (e.g. rrb-FSIQ = 0.37, P < 0.001). These children continued to demonstrate improvements in neuropsychological functioning over the course of their long-term follow-up (e.g. βFSIQ = 0.9, SEFSIQ = 0.3, PFSIQ = 0.004). Children who had discontinued antiseizure medication treatment at 1-year follow-up showed an 8- to 13-point advantage in postoperative working memory, processing speed and numeracy, and greater improvements in verbal IQ, working memory, reading and spelling (all P-values ≤0.034) over the postoperative period compared with children who were seizure free and still receiving antiseizure medication. In conclusion, by providing seizure freedom and the opportunity for antiseizure medication cessation, epilepsy surgery might not only halt but reverse the downward trajectory that children with drug-resistant epilepsy display in neuropsychological functioning. To halt this decline as soon as possible or, potentially, to prevent it from occurring in the first place, children with focal epilepsy should be considered for epilepsy surgery as early as possible after diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria H Eriksson
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neuropsychology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Department of Neurology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Freya Prentice
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neuropsychology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Rory J Piper
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Konrad Wagstyl
- Department of Imaging Neuroscience, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sophie Adler
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Aswin Chari
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - John Booth
- Data Research, Innovation and Virtual Environments Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Friederike Moeller
- Department of Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Krishna Das
- Department of Neurology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Department of Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Christin Eltze
- Department of Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Gerald Cooray
- Department of Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna 171 77, Sweden
| | - Ana Perez Caballero
- North Thames Genomic Laboratory Hub, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Lara Menzies
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Amy McTague
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Sara Shavel-Jessop
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neuropsychology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Martin M Tisdall
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - J Helen Cross
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neurology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Young Epilepsy, Lingfield, RH7 6PW, UK
| | - Patricia Martin Sanfilippo
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neuropsychology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Torsten Baldeweg
- Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
- Department of Neuropsychology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, WC1N 3JH, UK
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Casillas-Espinosa PM, Anderson A, Harutyunyan A, Li C, Lee J, Braine EL, Brady RD, Sun M, Huang C, Barlow CK, Shah AD, Schittenhelm RB, Mychasiuk R, Jones NC, Shultz SR, O'Brien TJ. Disease-modifying effects of sodium selenate in a model of drug-resistant, temporal lobe epilepsy. eLife 2023; 12:e78877. [PMID: 36892461 PMCID: PMC10208637 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2023] Open
Abstract
There are no pharmacological disease-modifying treatments with an enduring effect to mitigate the seizures and comorbidities of established chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). This study aimed to evaluate for disease modifying effects of sodium selenate treatment in the chronically epileptic rat post-status epilepticus (SE) model of drug-resistant TLE. Wistar rats underwent kainic acid-induced SE or sham. Ten-weeks post-SE, animals received sodium selenate, levetiracetam, or vehicle subcutaneousinfusion continuously for 4 weeks. To evaluate the effects of the treatments, one week of continuous video-EEG was acquired before, during, and 4, 8 weeks post-treatment, followed by behavioral tests. Targeted and untargeted proteomics and metabolomics were performed on post-mortem brain tissue to identify potential pathways associated with modified disease outcomes. Telomere length was investigated as a novel surrogate marker of epilepsy disease severity in our current study. The results showed that sodium selenate treatment was associated with mitigation of measures of disease severity at 8 weeks post-treatment cessation; reducing the number of spontaneous seizures (p< 0.05), cognitive dysfunction (p< 0.05), and sensorimotor deficits (p< 0.01). Moreover, selenate treatment was associated with increased protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) expression, reduced hyperphosphorylated tau, and reversed telomere length shortening (p< 0.05). Network medicine integration of multi-omics/pre-clinical outcomes identified protein-metabolite modules positively correlated with TLE. Our results provide evidence that treatment with sodium selenate results in a sustained disease-modifying effect in chronically epileptic rats in the post-KA SE model of TLE, including improved comorbid learning and memory deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo M Casillas-Espinosa
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
- Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Facility and Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash UniversityClayton, VictoriaAustralia
| | - Alison Anderson
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Anna Harutyunyan
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Crystal Li
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Jiyoon Lee
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
| | - Emma L Braine
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Rhys D Brady
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Mujun Sun
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Cheng Huang
- Department of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road,Melbourne, VictoriaAustralia
| | - Christopher K Barlow
- Department of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road,Melbourne, VictoriaAustralia
| | - Anup D Shah
- Department of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road,Melbourne, VictoriaAustralia
| | - Ralf B Schittenhelm
- Department of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road,Melbourne, VictoriaAustralia
| | - Richelle Mychasiuk
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Nigel C Jones
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Sandy R Shultz
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Terence J O'Brien
- Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of MelbourneMelbourneAustralia
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourneAustralia
- Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Facility and Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash UniversityClayton, VictoriaAustralia
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Laguitton V, Desnous B, Lépine A, McGonigal A, Mancini J, Daquin G, Girard N, Scavarda D, Trébuchon A, Milh M, Bartolomei F, Villeneuve N. Intellectual outcome from 1 to 5 years after epilepsy surgery in 81 children and adolescents: A longitudinal study. Seizure 2021; 91:384-392. [PMID: 34298457 DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2021.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This longitudinal study aimed to measure the time course of intellectual changes after pediatric focal resective epilepsy surgery and to identify their predictors. METHODS We analyzed a cohort of 81 school-aged children with focal epilepsy and intractable seizures who underwent neurosurgery (focal resection) from 2000 to 2018 in La Timone Hospital (Marseille). Neuropsychological assessments were carried out before and then 1, 2, 3, and 5 years after epilepsy surgery. RESULTS Eighty-one patients with a median age at surgery of 13.74 years [4.25] were enrolled. Overall, 45 of the 81 (55%) recruited patients were improved after the surgery on at least one of the five domains of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Temporal lobe localization and postoperative seizure freedom were the main prognostic factors impacting intellectual outcome (improvement and decline) after epilepsy surgery. Younger patients at surgery were less likely to have a postoperative IQ decline. Intellectual improvement after epilepsy surgery could be delayed for up to 5 years after surgery and concerned all intellectual domains except the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI). Intellectual decline after epilepsy surgery occurred mainly during the first two years after the surgery and was reflected in full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and Working Memory Index (WMI). CONCLUSIONS Our study points out that children and adolescents with TLE who achieved freedom from seizure after epilepsy surgery are the leading candidates for achieving postoperative intellectual improvement. This enhancement in intellectual function shows a long time course, whereas intellectual decline is evidenced earlier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Laguitton
- Clinical Neurophysiology APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Department of Pediatric Neurology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France
| | - Béatrice Desnous
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France.
| | - Anne Lépine
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France
| | - Aileen McGonigal
- Clinical Neurophysiology APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Aix Marseille University, INSERM, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
| | - Julien Mancini
- Aix-Marseille University, APHM, INSERM, IRD, SESSTIM, Timone Hospital, BioSTIC, Marseille, France
| | - Géraldine Daquin
- Clinical Neurophysiology APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France
| | - Nadine Girard
- Department of Neuroradiology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille University, UMR 7339, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Didier Scavarda
- Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France
| | - Agnès Trébuchon
- Clinical Neurophysiology APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Aix Marseille University, INSERM, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
| | - Mathieu Milh
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; INSERM UMR-S 910, Marseille 13385, France
| | - Fabrice Bartolomei
- Clinical Neurophysiology APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Aix Marseille University, INSERM, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
| | - Nathalie Villeneuve
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, APHM, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France; Centre Ressource Autisme, APHM, Sainte Marguerite Hospital, 13009 Marseille, France
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4
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Brain network alteration in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with cognitive impairment. Epilepsy Behav 2018; 81:41-48. [PMID: 29475172 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The aims of this study were to investigate the brain network alternation in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with and without cognitive impairment (CI) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and to further explore the potential mechanisms of epilepsy-induced CI. Forty patients with TLE and nineteen healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for this study. All participants received the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, and the patients were divided into CI (n=21) and cognitive nonimpairment (CNI) groups (n=19) according to MoCA performance. Functional connectivity (FC) differences of resting state networks (RSNs) were compared among the CI, CNI, and HC groups. Correlation between FC and MoCA scores was also observed. When compared with the HC group, significantly decreased FC between medial visual network (mVN) and left frontoparietal network (lFPN) as well as between visuospatial network (VSN) and the anterior default mode network (aDMN) were revealed in both CI and CNI groups. In addition, significantly decreased FC between lFPN and executive control network (ECN) and increased FC between ECN and sensorimotor-related network (SMN) were found in CNI and CI groups, respectively. When compared with the CNI group, the CI group exhibited significant increased FC between ECN and lFPN as well as between ECN and SMN. Moreover, in the CI group, FC between ECN and lFPN showed negative correlation with attention scores. Our findings suggested that cognitive networks are different from epileptic networks, and the increased FC between RSNs closely related to cognitive function changes may help us to further understand the mechanism of CI in TLE.
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Abstract
First-line treatment for epilepsy is antiepileptic drug and requires an interdisciplinary approach and enduring commitment and adherence from the patient and family for successful outcome. Despite adherence to antiepileptic drugs, refractory epilepsy occurs in approximately 30% of children with epilepsy, and surgical treatment is an important intervention to consider. Surgical management of pediatric epilepsy is highly effective in selected patients with refractory epilepsy; however, an evidence-based protocol, including best methods of presurgical imaging assessments, and neurodevelopmental and/or behavioral health assessments, is not currently available for clinicians. Surgical treatment of epilepsy can be critical to avoid negative outcomes in functional, cognitive, and behavioral health status. Furthermore, it is often the only method to achieve seizure freedom in refractory epilepsy. Although a large literature base can be found for adults with refractory epilepsy undergoing surgical treatment, less is known about how surgical management affects outcomes in children with epilepsy. The purpose of the review was fourfold: (1) to evaluate the available literature regarding presurgical assessment and postsurgical outcomes in children with medically refractory epilepsy, (2) to identify gaps in our knowledge of surgical treatment and its outcomes in children with epilepsy, (3) to pose questions for further research, and (4) to advocate for a more unified presurgical evaluation protocol including earlier referral for surgical candidacy of pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy. Despite its effectiveness, epilepsy surgery remains an underutilized but evidence-based approach that could lead to positive short- and long-term outcomes for children with refractory epilepsy.
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6
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Puka K, Smith ML. Remembrance and time passed: Memory outcomes 4-11 years after pediatric epilepsy surgery. Epilepsia 2016; 57:1798-1807. [DOI: 10.1111/epi.13571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Klajdi Puka
- Department of Psychology; The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Mary Lou Smith
- Department of Psychology; The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga Ontario Canada
- Neurosciences and Mental Health Program; The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto Ontario Canada
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7
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Puka K, Smith ML. Predictors of language skills in the long term after pediatric epilepsy surgery. Epilepsy Behav 2016; 63:1-8. [PMID: 27538014 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.07.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Revised: 07/18/2016] [Accepted: 07/24/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate language skills in a heterogeneous cohort of patients who underwent or were considered for epilepsy surgery in childhood 4-11years earlier. The few existing studies that have evaluated cognitive function in the long term after surgery have examined intelligence and memory. METHOD Participants were 97 patients, of whom 61 underwent surgery. They completed standardized tests of picture naming, vocabulary, letter fluency, semantic fluency and intelligence at baseline and, on average, 7years later. RESULTS Among all patient groups, scores across language tasks were similar at baseline and follow-up. Language skills were largely independent of surgical status but were associated with seizure control. Seizure freedom and/or a longer proportion of life without seizures were associated with higher scores across all language tasks at follow-up. However, few patients showed meaningful improvements or deterioration at the individual level. Older age at epilepsy onset, higher IQ, and higher baseline scores were associated with higher follow-up scores on all language tasks. Localization and lateralization of epileptogenic foci and language lateralization were associated with higher scores on some language tasks at follow-up. Most of these variables were also predictive of change in scores over time on some of the language tasks. SIGNIFICANCE Language skills largely remained similar at baseline and follow-up. Seizure freedom was associated with a modest advantage at the group level, and no significant change at the individual level, suggesting an abnormal neural substrate or epileptic activity prior to seizure control may hinder the long-term capacity for improvement, even in the absence of seizure activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klajdi Puka
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Mary Lou Smith
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
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8
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Puka K, Smith ML. Academic skills in the long term after epilepsy surgery in childhood. Epilepsy Behav 2016; 62:97-103. [PMID: 27450313 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2016] [Revised: 06/03/2016] [Accepted: 06/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We evaluated the progression of academic skills in a cohort of patients who underwent, or were considered for, epilepsy surgery in childhood, four to eleven years before. The few existing studies that have evaluated cognitive function in the long term after surgery have examined intelligence and memory. METHOD Participants were 97 patients with childhood-onset intractable epilepsy; 61 had undergone resective epilepsy surgery. Participants completed standardized tests of reading, spelling, arithmetic, and intelligence at baseline and, on average, 7years after. Surgical patients were additionally assessed one year postsurgery. RESULTS At baseline and long-term follow-up, 61% and 69% of patients, respectively, scored at least one standard deviation below normative data in at least one academic domain. Evaluation of change over time while controlling for IQ showed that arithmetic scores were lower at long-term follow-up in comparison with those at baseline among all patient groups, whereas reading and spelling scores remained unchanged. Few advantages were associated with seizure control. Multiple regression analyses found that older age at surgery, cessation of antiepileptic medications, improved IQ, and low baseline scores were independently associated with improvement in some academic domains among all patient groups. CONCLUSION We found that arithmetic scores were lower at long-term follow-up, suggesting a lack of ongoing development or deterioration in skills. Reading and spelling scores remained stable suggesting that patients made gains in abilities at a rate expected for their increase in age; this finding contrasts with recent short-term outcome studies identifying significantly lower scores over time in these areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klajdi Puka
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Mary Lou Smith
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
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9
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Goodfellow M, Rummel C, Abela E, Richardson MP, Schindler K, Terry JR. Estimation of brain network ictogenicity predicts outcome from epilepsy surgery. Sci Rep 2016; 6:29215. [PMID: 27384316 PMCID: PMC4935897 DOI: 10.1038/srep29215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Surgery is a valuable option for pharmacologically intractable epilepsy. However, significant post-operative improvements are not always attained. This is due in part to our incomplete understanding of the seizure generating (ictogenic) capabilities of brain networks. Here we introduce an in silico, model-based framework to study the effects of surgery within ictogenic brain networks. We find that factors conventionally determining the region of tissue to resect, such as the location of focal brain lesions or the presence of epileptiform rhythms, do not necessarily predict the best resection strategy. We validate our framework by analysing electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings from patients who have undergone epilepsy surgery. We find that when post-operative outcome is good, model predictions for optimal strategies align better with the actual surgery undertaken than when post-operative outcome is poor. Crucially, this allows the prediction of optimal surgical strategies and the provision of quantitative prognoses for patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Goodfellow
- College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.,Centre for Biomedical Modelling and Analysis, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.,EPSRC Centre for Predictive Modelling in Healthcare, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - C Rummel
- Support Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (SCAN), University Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - E Abela
- Support Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (SCAN), University Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - M P Richardson
- EPSRC Centre for Predictive Modelling in Healthcare, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.,Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - K Schindler
- Department of Neurology, University of Bern, Switzerland
| | - J R Terry
- College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.,Centre for Biomedical Modelling and Analysis, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.,EPSRC Centre for Predictive Modelling in Healthcare, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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10
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Shurtleff HA, Barry D, Firman T, Warner MH, Aguilar-Estrada RL, Saneto RP, Kuratani JD, Ellenbogen RG, Novotny EJ, Ojemann JG. Impact of epilepsy surgery on development of preschool children: identification of a cohort likely to benefit from early intervention. J Neurosurg Pediatr 2015; 16:383-92. [PMID: 26140458 DOI: 10.3171/2015.3.peds14359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECT Outcomes of focal resection in young children with early-onset epilepsy are varied in the literature due to study differences. In this paper, the authors sought to define the effect of focal resection in a small homogeneous sample of children who were otherwise cognitively intact, but who required early surgical treatment. Preservation of and age-appropriate development of intelligence following focal resection was hypothesized. METHODS Cognitive outcome after focal resection was retrospectively reviewed for 15 cognitively intact children who were operated on at the ages of 2-6 years for lesion-related, early-onset epilepsy. Intelligence was tested prior to and after surgery. Effect sizes and confidence intervals for means and standard deviations were used to infer changes and differences in intelligence between 1) groups (pre vs post), 2) left versus right hemisphere resections, and 3) short versus long duration of seizures prior to resection. RESULTS No group changes from baseline occurred in Full Scale, verbal, or nonverbal IQ. No change from baseline intelligence occurred in children who underwent left or right hemisphere surgery, including no group effect on verbal scores following surgery in the dominant hemisphere. Patients with seizure durations of less than 6 months prior to resection showed improvement from their presurgical baseline in contrast to those with seizure duration of greater than 6 months prior to surgery, particularly in Wechsler Full Scale IQ and nonverbal intelligence. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that surgical treatment of focal seizures in cognitively intact preschool children is likely to result in seizure remediation, antiepileptic drug discontinuation, and no significant decrement in intelligence. The latter finding is particularly significant in light of the longstanding concern associated with performing resections in the language-dominant hemisphere. Importantly, shorter seizure duration prior to resection can result in improved cognitive outcome, suggesting that surgery for this population should occur sooner to help improve intelligence outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dwight Barry
- Health Informatics, Group Health, Seattle, Washington; and
| | | | - Molly H Warner
- Departments of 1 Neurology.,Psychiatry, Seattle Children's Hospital
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Puka K, Tavares TP, Smith ML. Development of intelligence 4 to 11 years after paediatric epilepsy surgery. J Neuropsychol 2015; 11:161-173. [PMID: 26184054 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2014] [Revised: 06/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Little is known about the long-term intellectual outcomes following paediatric epilepsy surgery. Change is not likely within the first 2 years following surgery, and the few studies of longer term outcomes have yielded inconsistent results. This study addressed this issue by examining a large group of surgical and non-surgical patients at baseline and after 4-11 years. METHODS Participants were 97 patients (mean age 20.08 [SD: 4.44] years) with childhood-onset intractable epilepsy; 61 had undergone resective epilepsy surgery. Participants underwent neuropsychological testing with the age-appropriate Wechsler Intelligence Scale, generating Full Scale, Performance and Verbal IQs, and Working Memory and Processing Speed indices. RESULTS In total 54% of the surgical and 39% of the non-surgical patients were seizure free in the preceding 12 months (p > .05); however, surgical patients did achieve seizure freedom sooner and used fewer medications at follow-up. Surgical status was not associated with any cognitive domain. However, with the exception of processing speed, significant seizure status × time interaction effects were evident and seizure-free patients had higher scores at follow-up. Regression analyses additionally showed that low pre-operative scores were predictive of improvement overtime, whereas high pre-operative scores were predictive of high scores at follow-up. INTERPRETATION The results show similar intellectual outcomes for surgical and non-surgical paediatric patients. Four to 11 years after paediatric epilepsy surgery, seizure freedom, whether attained through epilepsy surgery or other means, was found to be associated with intellectual improvements. Seizure status and baseline scores were the most consistent predictors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klajdi Puka
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Tamara P Tavares
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.,The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Mary Lou Smith
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada.,Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Skirrow C, Cross JH, Harrison S, Cormack F, Harkness W, Coleman R, Meierotto E, Gaiottino J, Vargha-Khadem F, Baldeweg T. Temporal lobe surgery in childhood and neuroanatomical predictors of long-term declarative memory outcome. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 138:80-93. [PMID: 25392199 PMCID: PMC4285190 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
See Berg (doi:10.1093/brain/awu320) for a scientific commentary on this article. In a long-term follow-up study of children who underwent temporal lobe surgery for treatment of epilepsy, Skirrow et al. identify no significant pre-to-post-surgery memory losses, but instead robust improvements in memory functions supported by the unoperated temporal lobe. The integrity of remaining temporal lobe structures places constraints on long-term memory outcomes. The temporal lobes play a prominent role in declarative memory function, including episodic memory (memory for events) and semantic memory (memory for facts and concepts). Surgical resection for medication-resistant and well-localized temporal lobe epilepsy has good prognosis for seizure freedom, but is linked to memory difficulties in adults, especially when the removal is on the left side. Children may benefit most from surgery, because brain plasticity may facilitate post-surgical reorganization, and seizure cessation may promote cognitive development. However, the long-term impact of this intervention in children is not known. We examined memory function in 53 children (25 males, 28 females) who were evaluated for epilepsy surgery: 42 underwent unilateral temporal lobe resections (25 left, 17 right, mean age at surgery 13.8 years), 11 were treated only pharmacologically. Average follow-up was 9 years (range 5–15). Post-surgical change in visual and verbal episodic memory, and semantic memory at follow-up were examined. Pre- and post-surgical T1-weighted MRI brain scans were analysed to extract hippocampal and resection volumes, and evaluate post-surgical temporal lobe integrity. Language lateralization indices were derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging. There were no significant pre- to postoperative decrements in memory associated with surgery. In contrast, gains in verbal episodic memory were seen after right temporal lobe surgery, and visual episodic memory improved after left temporal lobe surgery, indicating a functional release in the unoperated temporal lobe after seizure reduction or cessation. Pre- to post-surgical change in memory function was not associated with any indices of brain structure derived from MRI. However, better verbal memory at follow-up was linked to greater post-surgical residual hippocampal volumes, most robustly in left surgical participants. Better semantic memory at follow-up was associated with smaller resection volumes and greater temporal pole integrity after left temporal surgery. Results were independent of post-surgical intellectual function and language lateralization. Our findings indicate post-surgical, hemisphere-dependent material-specific improvement in memory functions in the intact temporal lobe. However, outcome was linked to the anatomical integrity of the temporal lobe memory system, indicating that compensatory mechanisms are constrained by the amount of tissue which remains in the operated temporal lobe. Careful tailoring of resections for children undergoing epilepsy surgery may enhance long-term memory outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Skirrow
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - J Helen Cross
- 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK 3 Clinical Neurosciences Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Sue Harrison
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Francesca Cormack
- 4 Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK
| | - William Harkness
- 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Rosie Coleman
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Ellen Meierotto
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 5 Abteilung für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetter Strasse 55, 29106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Johanna Gaiottino
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Faraneh Vargha-Khadem
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Torsten Baldeweg
- 1 Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK 2 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH, UK
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Meekes J, Braams OB, Braun KPJ, Jennekens-Schinkel A, van Rijen PC, Alpherts WCJ, Hendriks MPH, van Nieuwenhuizen O. Visual memory after epilepsy surgery in children: a standardized regression-based analysis of group and individual outcomes. Epilepsy Behav 2014; 36:57-67. [PMID: 24857810 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2014.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2013] [Revised: 04/15/2014] [Accepted: 04/18/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Visual memory is vulnerable to epilepsy surgery in adults, but studies in children suggest no change or small improvements. We investigated visual memory after epilepsy surgery, both group-wise and in individual children, using two techniques to assess change: 1) repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and 2) an empirically based technique for detecting cognitive change [standardized regression-based (SRB) analysis]. A prospective cohort consisting of 21 children completed comprehensive assessments of memory both before surgery (T0) and 6 (T1), 12 (T2), and 24 months (T3) after surgery. For each patient, two age- and gender-matched controls were assessed with the same tests at the same intervals. Repeated measures ANOVA replicated the results of previous studies reporting no change or minor improvements after surgery. However, group analysis of SRB results eliminated virtually all improvements, indicating that the ANOVA results were confounded by practice effects. Standardized regression-based group results showed that in fact patients scored lower after surgery than would be predicted based on their presurgical performance. Analysis of individual SRB results showed that per visual memory measure, an average of 18% of patients obtained a significantly negative SRB score, whereas, on average, only 2% obtained a significantly positive SRB score. At T3, the number of significantly negative SRB scores outweighed the number of significantly positive SRB scores in 62% of patients. There were no clear associations of clinical variables (including side and site of surgery and postsurgical seizure freedom) with memory outcome. The present analysis revealed that given their individual presurgical functioning, many children obtained disappointing results on some visual memory tests after epilepsy surgery. Comparison of the SRB analysis with ANOVA results emphasizes the importance of empirically based techniques for detecting cognitive effects of epilepsy surgery in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joost Meekes
- Sector of Neuropsychology for Children and Adolescents, Hp KG 01.327.1, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Bio Research Center for Children, Wekeromseweg 8, 6816 VS Arnhem, The Netherlands.
| | - Olga B Braams
- Sector of Neuropsychology for Children and Adolescents, Hp KG 01.327.1, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Bio Research Center for Children, Wekeromseweg 8, 6816 VS Arnhem, The Netherlands.
| | - Kees P J Braun
- Department of Child Neurology, Hp KC 03.063.0, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Aag Jennekens-Schinkel
- Sector of Neuropsychology for Children and Adolescents, Hp KG 01.327.1, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Bio Research Center for Children, Wekeromseweg 8, 6816 VS Arnhem, The Netherlands.
| | - Peter C van Rijen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hp G 03.124, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Willem C J Alpherts
- SEIN, Epilepsy Institute of the Netherlands Foundation, Location Meer en Bosch, P.O. Box 540, 2103 SW Heemstede, The Netherlands.
| | - Marc P H Hendriks
- Department of Behavioural Sciences, Kempenhaeghe Expertise Centre for Epileptology, Sleep Medicine and Neurocognition, P.O. Box 61, 5590 AB Heeze, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Onno van Nieuwenhuizen
- Bio Research Center for Children, Wekeromseweg 8, 6816 VS Arnhem, The Netherlands; Department of Child Neurology, Hp KC 03.063.0, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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