Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Treatment & Management
- Author: David Y Ko, MD; Chief Editor: Selim R Benbadis, MD more...
Approach Considerations
There are many AEDs used for seizure control in temporal lobe epilepsy.
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1997 for the treatment of intractable partial epilepsy in patients aged 12 years and older.
Temporal lobectomy is the definitive treatment for medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy.
Antiepileptic Therapy
About 47-60% of new-onset partial seizures are controlled effectively by the first drug. Studies in 1985 and 1992 by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have shown that the 3 major AEDs, phenytoin, carbamazepine, and valproate, are equally effective in controlling partial seizures.
The newer AEDs, such gabapentin, topiramate, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, and zonisamide, have similar efficacy than the older AEDs, but they stand out predominantly in having far less side effects in day-to-day use, as well as in long-term side effects. In 2005, pregabalin became available, and, more recently, lacoasmide, vigabatrin, and ezogabine have been approved.
In patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy, oxcarbazepine appears to be significantly better than carbamazepine in terms of tolerability and health-related quality of life issues.
The newer drugs are easier to use in terms of having far fewer drug-drug interactions than do the older AEDs.
About 40% of patients continue to have seizures in spite of trials with 3 AEDs. Semah and colleagues showed that seizures are more likely to be refractory to AEDs in patients with hippocampal sclerosis.[4]
Go to Antiepileptic Drugs for complete information on this topic.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
In VNS, a battery-operated stimulator device is implanted in the chest and an electrode is attached to the left vagus nerve in the neck. As previously mentioned, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was approved by the FDA in 1997 for the treatment of intractable partial epilepsy in patients aged 12 years and older.
VNS with a high-frequency stimulation rate has been found to result in a mean reduction in seizure frequency of 25-28% at 3 months but with improvement to about 40% by year 1. The exact mechanism through which VNS exerts its antiepileptic effect is not known.
Adverse effects of VNS treatment include hoarseness of voice, cough, local pain, paresthesias, dysphagia, and dyspnea when the device is on and almost none when the device is off, but the settings can be titrated so that side effects are minimized. VNS does not have the adverse effects associated with AEDs and is used adjunctively with AEDs.
Go to Vagus Nerve Stimulation for complete information on this topic.
Anterior Temporal Lobectomy
Temporal lobectomy is the definitive treatment for medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. When seizures are not controlled by 2 different AED trials, the patient should be considered for a presurgical evaluation. These patients are not likely to achieve seizure control with medications alone (5-10% chance of becoming seizure free).
The presence of unilateral hippocampal sclerosis and concordant EEG findings predict seizure-free outcome in patients considered for surgery.
Foldvary and colleagues showed that a higher monthly preoperative seizure frequency is associated with a less favorable surgical outcome.[5]
An extensive presurgical assessment for the feasibility of surgery is essential. This includes MRI, interictal and ictal EEG, neuropsychological testing, and the intracarotid amobarbital test called the Wada test.
Seizure-free state at 2 years postoperatively is predictive of long-term seizure-free outcome. In well-selected cases, 70-80% of patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy become seizure free after surgery.
Go to Epilepsy Surgery for complete information on this topic.
Medicolegal Considerations
The most common medicolegal pitfall arises from the fact that different states in the United States have different rules regarding the physician's responsibility to report a patient with diagnosed epilepsy.
For example, California state law mandates that the physician is responsible for reporting a patient with new-onset epilepsy to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If a doctor fails to report to the DMV and the patient has an accident in which a third party is injured, the injured third party is able to sue the doctor for failure to report to the DMV and the DMV for failure to take away the patient's driver's license. Furthermore, even patients who report only simple partial seizures may have unrecognized complex partial seizures.
Gibbs EL, Gibbs FA, Fuster B. Psychomotor epilepsy. Arch Neurol Psychiatry. 1948;60:331-339.
Berkovic SF, McIntosh A, Howell RA, Mitchell A, Sheffield LJ, Hopper JL. Familial temporal lobe epilepsy: a common disorder identified in twins. Ann Neurol. Aug 1996;40(2):227-35. [Medline].
Acharya V, Acharya J, Lüders H. Olfactory epileptic auras. Neurology. Jul 1998;51(1):56-61. [Medline].
Semah F, Picot MC, Adam C, Broglin D, Arzimanoglou A, Bazin B, et al. Is the underlying cause of epilepsy a major prognostic factor for recurrence?. Neurology. Nov 1998;51(5):1256-62. [Medline].
Foldvary N, Nashold B, Mascha E, Thompson EA, Lee N, McNamara JO, et al. Seizure outcome after temporal lobectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy: a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Neurology. Feb 8 2000;54(3):630-4. [Medline].
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