Pediatric candidates for temporal lobe epilepsy surgery

Temporal lobectomy is an under-valued and effective therapy for selected ch ildren with temporal lobe seizures. This article details three components o f the identification and evaluation of such children. The ictal symptoms an d signs remains an essential component. This includes an aura suggesting li mbic system involvement, and the nature of automatisms and other motor phen omena which may have lateralising value. Electroencephalography continues t o accurately identify a principally epileptogenic focus in children and adu lts. The value of high quality magnetic resonance imaging is emphasized. In vasive studies are required in only a minority of cases. Several studies ha ve revealed that 73-100% of carefully selected children receive benefit fro m this procedure whereas significant neurosurgical complications rarely occ ur.