Dados do Trabalho

Título

Hypocampal Sclerosis and Memory in individuals with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Introdução

The comprehension of the epileptogenic focus is an important factor in understanding the range of cognitive symptoms related to epilepsy. Since the 1950s, the beginning of anatomical and functional studies, researchers have sought to identify the peculiarities of specific brain lesions and the impact on patient functionality. This understanding is fundamental to establish an effective treatment plan and neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Objetivo

This research aims to compare the visual and logical memory performance of patients with hippocampal sclerosis, based on the brain lateralization of the epileptogenic focus.

Método

We reviewed 201 medical records of preoperative individuals with refractory epilepsy attended by the epilepsy surgery program of a tertiary hospital in the city of Porto Alegre. Patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis confirmed from Video Electroencephalogram and Magnetic Resonance Imaging were included. They were divided into two groups, according the hemisphere affected by the disease: left or right. All patients were submitted to the Weschsler Memory Scale: Logical and Visual subtests. The data obtained will be presented in (mean± standard deviation). A t-student test (p) was used to verify significant statistical differences between the quantitative variables.

Resultados

The left hippocampal sclerosis group consisted of 67 (60%) men and 45 (40%) women. Between them, 105 (94%) were right-handed individuals and 7 (6%) were left-handed individuals, with age (31.8 ± 9.9) years. Furthermore, 65 (58%) attended elementary school, 31 (31%) high school and 12 (11%) college. The late logical memory performance was (13.0 ± 8.1) and late visual (25.6 ± 9.8). In the patients with the disease in the right hemisphere: 47 (53%) were men and 42 (47%) women. Among them, 85 (95) right-handed and 4 (5%) left-handed, with age (30 ± 8.8). Forty nine (55%) attended elementary school, 28 (31%) high school and 12 (13%) college. The late logical memory performance was (16.0 ± 7.9) and late visual (26.0 ± 9.9). The Student t test showed statistical difference between the groups in the logical memory (p<0.01) and not significant in visual memory (p=0.98). No different sociodemographic were identified between groups (p> 0.05).

Conclusão

Thus, it is concluded that patients with left-sided hippocampal sclerosis have significantly lower baseline performance in logical memory; however, visual memory performance is similar among individuals, independent of the hemisphere affected by the disease.