Communication deficits in children undergoing temporal lobectomy.
OBJECTIVE
To examine formal thought disorder and discourse (cohesive) devices that make speech coherent prospectively in seven children, aged 5.7 to 16.7 years, before and after temporal lobectomy for intractable cut points determined from sensitivity and specificity analyses of formal thought disorder and discourse measures in 22 children with complex partial seizure disorder and 45 normal children.


RESULTS
Before surgery, the mean illogical thinking and discourse scores of the surgical candidates were in the pathological range. After a mean postoperative follow-up period of 15.1 months, their illogical thinking (but not their discourse scores) decreased significantly to the normal range.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary findings are discussed in terms of the possible role of postsurgical changes in seizure control, behavior, antiepileptic drugs, cognition, and prefrontal function.
Division of Child Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1759.
R
R
Caplan
D
D
Guthrie
W D
WD
Shields
W J
WJ
Peacock
H V
HV
Vinters
S
S
Yudovin
D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000601:surgery*; D014705:Verbal Behavior