Self-report of memory function in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and temporal lobectomy

Thirty-one surgical candidates with a unilateral temporal lobe seizure focus, 72 temporal lobectomy patients, 63 non-epileptic controls and their relatives, respectively, filled in the Memory Observation Questionnaire. The two patient groups rated their current memory similarly, but significantly worse than controls rated their own memory. Memory status was judged to be improved approximately three years after a temporal lobectomy. The relatives' ratings agreed with those of the patients. Thus patients who underwent surgical resection for relief of temporal lobe epilepsy did not report further subjective deterioration in memory compared to pre-operative cases. Laterality of excision did not affect self-report of general memory function. Nevertheless, a brief Verbal memory subscale yielded the expected material specific pattern after unilateral temporal lobectomy.