[Temporal lobe epilepsy--state of art review]

The temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most important kind of partial epilepsy both from practical and research point of view, where studies brought many new results in the last years. This article is a state of art review with a special emphasis on medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). We show the clinical symptoms, EEG and neuroimaging signs, the psychiatric co-morbidities and psyhosocial consequences. Etiological factors, among them hippocampal sclerosis and hippocampal reorganisation is assessed in a more detailed form. The possibilities of pharmacological and surgical treatment are also shown, together with the brief outline of the Hungarian situation. TLE is presented as a model for the development of partial epilepsies.