Bp. Hermann et al., THE UTILITY OF THE WARRINGTON RECOGNITION MEMORY TEST FOR TEMPORAL-LOBE EPILEPSY - PREOPERATIVE AND POSTOPERATIVE RESULTS, Journal of epilepsy, 8(2), 1995, pp. 139-145
We wished to examine the ability of the Warrington Recognition Memory
Test (RMT) to distinguish epilepsy of left versus right temporal lobe
origin during preoperative testing and to assess pre- to postoperative
changes in memory function after anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). S
eventy-seven patients were assessed preoperatively and 6-8 months post
operatively. Patients' performance for verbal (Words) and nonverbal (F
aces) material was examined with raw, scaled, and discrepancy scores,
as well as with more formal diagnostic efficiency statistics and recei
ver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Preoperatively, no aspect o
f the RMT could reliably distinguish left from right temporal lobe epi
lepsy groups. Examination of pre- to postoperative memory change showe
d declines in Word recognition memory after left ATL and less consiste
nt declines in Face recognition memory after right ATL. Diagnostic eff
iciency statistics demonstrated poor classification ability preoperati
vely and improved classification ability postoperatively. We conclude
that the RMT is not insensitive to lateralized temporal lobe lesions (
as demonstrated by the pre- to postoperative performance changes), but
it is of extremely limited clinical utility in identifying laterality
of temporal lobe seizure onset preoperatively The reasons for this in
teresting pattern of results are discussed.