WADA MEMORY TESTING AND HIPPOCAMPAL VOLUME MEASUREMENTS IN THE EVALUATION FOR TEMPORAL LOBECTOMY

We examined the relationship of Wada memory performance and MRI hippoc ampal volume measurements to laterality of ultimate seizure localizati on in 20 patients with complex partial seizures who later underwent te mporal lobectomy. Discriminant function analysis employing both Wada m emory test asymmetries and hippocampal volume asymmetries correctly cl assified 100% of the patients into left and right temporal lobe groups . Wada memory asymmetries alone correctly classified 90% of the sample (80% of the sample when the discriminant function included all patien ts except the one being classified), and hippocampal volume asymmetrie s alone correctly classified 90% of the patients. A significant correl ation was present between Wada memory asymmetries and hippocampal volu me asymmetries (r = 0.78), indicating that structural evidence of redu ced hippocampal volume has a functional correlate reflected by Wada me mory performance. These data suggest that the combination of functiona l and structural measures is of value in the preoperative evaluation f or epilepsy surgery.