Ictal speech, postictal language dysfunction, and seizure lateralization

In 84 patients with complex partial seizures evaluated by EEG and video telemetry, who went on to have seizure surgery, complex intraictal vocalizations and postictal language dysfunction were found to have strong lateralizing significance. Thirteen patients had ictal speech, and 12 of these had right-sided seizure foci. Twenty-eight had intact postictal language, and 21 of these had right-sided foci. Of the 32 with impaired postictal language, 21 had left-sided foci.