Abstracts

Pre-Surgical Cognitive Functioning of Right and Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patients: Further Evaluation of Material Specific Memory with the WMS-III

Abstract number : 1.188
Submission category : Neuropsychology/Language Cognition-Adult
Year : 2006
Submission ID : 6322
Source : www.aesnet.org
Presentation date : 12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Published date : Nov 30, 2006, 06:00 AM

Authors :
1Kyra A. Dawson, 2Mike R. Schoenberg, 2Mary Ann Werz, 1Lynn Reese, and 3Robert J. Maciunas

Epilepsy is a relatively common neurological disorder with cognitive and psychological sequelae. Neurosurgical treatment for medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) can result in seizure reduction or cessation, although there are cognitive and psychological risks. Pre-surgical neuropsychological testing is helpful in identifying patients at risk for memory loss. While the occurrence of gross amnesia postoperatively has been greatly reduced, postoperative material specific memory loss remains problematic. Presurgical memory scores are commonly used to identify patients at risk for material specific memory loss. Patients with left TLE (LTLE) are generally considered at risk for verbal memory loss when verbal memory scores are average or better. Alternatively, reports of memory impairment in right TLE (RTLE) has been inconsistent, but visual memory impairment has been reported in one study. Unfortunately, identification of material specific memory impairment in patients with LTLE or RTLE has not been consistently found, which decreases the ability to identify patients at risk for post-operative memory impairment. This study compares the pre-surgical performance of LTLE and RTLE patients in the WMS-III against other memory tests., Between groups analysis of patients undergoing comprehensive pre-surgical evaluations for medically refractory epilepsy. [underline]Participants[/underline]: Fifty two patients (17 left TLE and 35 right TLE) met study inclusion and exclusion criteria. [underline]Variables/Measure(s)[/underline]. Participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, including the Weschsler Memory Scale - 3rd Ed. (WMS-III), RAVLT, and complex figure tests., There was no significant difference between right and left TLE groups in age (LTLE = 41, [italic]SD[/italic] = 12.4; RTLE = 38, [italic]SD[/italic] = 14.8), gender, or ethnicity ([italic]p[/italic][gt].05). Years of education significantly differed (LTLE = 12.4 years ed.; RTLE = 14.6), and education was used as a covariate in subsequent analyses. ANCOVA revealed LTLE patients scored significantly worse than RTLE patients on the WMS-III auditory memory indexes ([italic]p[/italic][lt].01), while there was no difference in WMS-III visual memory index scores ([italic]p[/italic][gt].10). Recall of a complex figure test showed a trend towards worse performance for RTLE patients., These data further support observations that material specific memory impairment, as measured by the WMS-III, was not found for RTLE patients. Risk for material specific memory impairment for RTLE remains difficult to identify, and highlights the need for additional measures.,
Behavior/Neuropsychology