Tourette's syndrome following temporal lobectomy for seizure control

Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics, occurring longer than a year and causing marked distress along with social and occupational impairments in level of functioning. It can be accompanied by obsessive-compulsive behavior and attention deficit disorder. This report discusses the case of a young woman with a simple motor tic disorder and intractable seizures who, after right temporal lobectomy for medically intractable epilepsy, developed TS with complex motor and vocal tics, severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, and paranoia. This neurobehavioral complication has not to our knowledge been previously reported after epilepsy surgery.