Preserved proper naming following left anterior temporal lobectomy is associated with early age of seizure onset

Chad J Yucus; Daniel Tranel

doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01211.x

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Preserved proper naming following left anterior temporal lobectomy is associated with early age of seizure onset

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Preserved proper naming following left anterior temporal lobectomy is associated with early age of seizure onset

Chad J Yucus and Daniel Tranel

Epilepsia (Copenhagen), Vol.48(12), pp.2241-2252

12/2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01211.x

PMCID: PMC2244800

PMID: 17645534

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Abstract

Anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is an effective surgical option for managing pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy. Many patients with left ATL develop postsurgical difficulties with proper name retrieval, although curiously, some patients have entirely intact proper naming following left ATL. Here, we tested the hypothesis that early age of seizure onset would be a reliable factor "protecting" patients from developing proper naming defects following left ATL. Proper naming of unique persons (Famous Faces Test, 155 items) and places (Landmark Test, 65 items) was measured in 23 patients who had undergone left ATL for pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Data were collected for a number of variables, including age of seizure onset, age at surgery, handedness, IQ, and seizure outcome. The patients were sorted into two groups based on proper naming performance: (1) Unimpaired: 7 patients performed normally on both the Faces and Landmark tests; (2) Impaired: 16 patients performed abnormally on one or both of the tests. In support of our hypothesis, the Unimpaired group had a significantly earlier age of seizure onset (M = 2.1 years) than the Impaired group (M = 15.1 years). Moreover, a correlation analysis indicated a strong association between age of seizure onset and naming outcome (R =-0.569). The groups were comparable (and statistically indistinguishable) on nearly all other variables. These findings document the importance of age of seizure onset in predicting proper naming outcome following left ATL (with earlier being better), and extend understanding of brain reorganization and plasticity.

Prognosis

Age Factors

Humans

Anterior Temporal Lobectomy

Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use

Male

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - surgery

Postoperative Complications - epidemiology

Anomia - epidemiology

Anomia - pathology

Postoperative Complications - diagnosis

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - diagnosis

Neuronal Plasticity - physiology

Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data

Age of Onset

Adult

Female

Functional Laterality - physiology

Temporal Lobe - pathology

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - pathology

Anomia - diagnosis

Drug Resistance

Postoperative Complications - pathology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Preserved proper naming following left anterior temporal lobectomy is associated with early age of seizure onset
Creators: Chad J Yucus - Department of Neurology, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Daniel Tranel
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Epilepsia (Copenhagen), Vol.48(12), pp.2241-2252
DOI: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01211.x
PMID: 17645534
PMCID: PMC2244800
NLM abbreviation: Epilepsia
ISSN: 0013-9580
eISSN: 1528-1167
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R01 DA022549 / NIDA NIH HHS P01 NS019632 / NINDS NIH HHS R01 DA022549-02 / NIDA NIH HHS NS19632 / NINDS NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 12/2007
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002367702771

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