Factors influencing surgical outcome in patients with focal cortical dysplasia

A total of 120 patients with histologically proven focal cortical dysplasias (FCD) were retrospectively analysed for prognostic factors for successful epilepsy surgery. Multivariate data analyses showed that older age at epilepsy surgery, occurrence of secondarily generalised seizures and a multilobar extent of the dysplasia were significant negative predictors. In univariate analyses, longer duration of epilepsy, need for intracranial EEG recordings and incomplete resection of the FCD were factors which significantly reduced the chance of becoming seizure free. Histological subtype of the FCD and age at epilepsy onset had no significant predictive value. These findings strongly suggest early consideration of epilepsy surgery in FCD patients.