PSEUDOSEIZURES AFTER EPILEPSY SURGERY

Seizure surgery for medically intractable partial epilepsy in selected patients usually results in dramatically improved seizure control. Ho wever, the authors present six patients who, after surgery for refract ory complex partial seizures, postoperatively experienced pseudoseizur es (also known as nonepileptic seizures), confirmed with EEG monitorin g. Three of these patients also had nonepileptic seizures preoperative ly that coexisted with their partial epilepsy. Psychiatric assessment revealed that this patient group had several characteristics in common , which suggests that preoperative psychiatric consultation may help i dentify those patients at risk for developing nonepileptic seizures. T reatment strategies with anticonvulsant medications and behavioral the rapy are reviewed.