THE UTILITY OF THE WARRINGTON RECOGNITION MEMORY TEST FOR TEMPORAL-LOBE EPILEPSY - PREOPERATIVE AND POSTOPERATIVE RESULTS

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.