Vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of bilateral independent temporal lobe epilepsy.
OBJECTIVE
We studied the effect of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on seizure reduction in patients with intractable epilepsy with bilateral independent temporal lobe foci.


METHODS
Ten patients who met the criterion of the presence of two distinctive clinical and ictal EEG seizure patterns were identified and followed up for 1 year.


RESULTS
Six patients had >50% reduction in their seizure frequency that persisted up to > or =1 year of follow-up, whereas four patients reported small or no reduction in their partial seizures.


CONCLUSIONS
VNS is often effective and well tolerated in this select group of intractable epilepsy patients.
Alsaadi
T M
TM
Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. taoufik.alsaadi@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Laxer
K D
KD
Barbaro
N M
NM
Marks
W J
WJ
Garcia
P A
PA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*