Assessment of cognitive functions before and after stereotactic interstitial radiosurgery of hypothalamic hamartomas in patients with gelastic seizures.
We assessed cognitive functions before and 3 months after interstitial radiotherapy in 14 patients with gelastic seizures caused by hypothalamic hamartoma. Cognitive functioning was assessed before temporary implantation of (125)I-seed and 3 months after seed explantation. Performance was compared with that of a selected control group of conservatively treated patients with symptomatic focal epilepsy tested before add-on treatment with a new antiepileptic drug and after reaching steady state. No short-term negative side effects of the interstitial radiosurgery could be observed for the domains of attention and executive functions and verbal and figural memory performance. Cognitive development of the patients treated with seeds was comparable to that of the control group at both assessments. Thus, the stereotactic implantation of (125)I-seeds in this patient group with gelastic seizures caused by hypothalamic hamartoma provides a well-tolerated minimally invasive method in the treatment of this severe epileptic syndrome without negative cognitive side effects.
Quiske
A
A
Epilepsy Center, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. Quiskea@yahoo.de
Unterrainer
J
J
Wagner
K
K
Frings
L
L
Breyer
T
T
Halsband
U
U
Ostertag
C
C
Elger
C E
CE
Ebner
A
A
Tuxhorn
I
I
Ernst
J-P
JP
Steinhoff
B J
BJ
Mayer
T
T
Schulze-Bonhage
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007027:Hypothalamic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012306:Risk; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes