A retrospective study of the clinical outcomes and significant variables in the surgical treatment of temporal lobe tumor associated with intractable seizures

A retrospective study was performed assessing the preoperative evaluation, and the postoperative outcomes in 35 patients with a temporal lobe tumor with intractable seizures who were treated by our neurosurgery service between October 1995 and December 1999. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 27.9 years. The period of follow-up after surgery was a mean of 33.0 months. Of the study group of 35 patients, 27 (77.1%) became completely seizure free after surgery (class I), and 2 patients (5.7%) had no more than 2 seizures per year (class II). Worthwhile seizure control was achieved in 29 patients (82.8%). There was a statistical significance between the extent of tumor resection and favorable seizure outcome (p = 0.014). The most frequent histopathological diagnoses were classic epilepsy-associated ganglioglioma in 16 (45.7%) patients and low-grade astrocytoma in 10 (28.6%) patients. Complete resection of tumor was the most significant factor in obtaining a favorable seizure outcome.