Life 12 years after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery: a long-term, prospective clinical study

It has been suggested that aim of the temporal lobe epilepsy surgery is twofold: first is to decrease seizure frequency and second is to improve quality of life without causing intolerable complications. The aim of this prospective, longitudinal clinical study is to report outcomes with respect to seizure, medication, employment and quality of life in short- and long-term follow-ups after resective temporal lobe epilepsy surgery. Consecutively 63 patients who underwent resective temporal lobe epilepsy surgery between 1993 and 1994 were enrolled. Outcomes at 6 months, 2 and 12 years were evaluated and compared with pre-operative status. The mean follow-up of this study was 12.3+/-0.6 years. Results showed that rates of seizure freedom were 82.5, 76.2, and 70.8% at 6 months, 2 and 12 years, respectively. Significant reduction in antiepileptic drug dose at long-term follow-up was found when compared to baseline. Patients after surgery had net gain of employment and improved quality of life was seen in all seizure outcome groups after surgery. Seizure-free patients showed better quality of life than those who continued to have seizure. Our results suggest that surgery leads to improvement in both seizure outcome and quality of life. Even years after the surgery, patients are still working, have reduced their medication load and have nearly normal life.