Disconnection Surgery in Pediatric Epilepsy: A Single Center's Experience With 185 Cases

Lobar and multilobar disconnections have gradually become common surgical methods in pediatric epilepsy surgery in recent years. However, the surgical procedures, postoperative epilepsy outcomes, and complications reported by each center are quite different. To review and analyze the clinical data from lobar disconnection in treating intractable pediatric epilepsy and study the characteristics, surgical outcomes, and safety of different disconnection surgeries.

This was a retrospective analysis of 185 children with intractable epilepsy who underwent various lobar disconnections at the Pediatric Epilepsy Center, Peking University First Hospital. Clinical information was grouped according to their characteristics. The differences in the abovementioned characteristics among the different lobar disconnections were summarized, and risk factors affecting the surgical outcome and postsurgical complications were explored.

Among the 185 patients, 149 patients (80.5%) achieved seizure freedom with a follow-up of 2.1 years. There were 145 patients (78.4%) with malformations of cortical development (MCD). The seizure onset time (median 6 months, P = .001) and surgery time (median 34 months, P = .000) of the MCD group were smaller. Differences were found in etiology, resection of the insular lobe and epilepsy outcome among different disconnection approaches. Both parieto-occipital disconnection ( P = .038, odds ratio = 8.126) and MRI abnormalities larger than the disconnection extent ( P = .030, odds ratio = 2.670) affected the epilepsy outcome. Early postoperative complications were observed in 43 patients (23.3%), and long-term postoperative complications were observed in 5 patients (2.7%).

The most common etiology of epilepsy in children undergoing lobar disconnection is MCD, whose onset and operative ages are the youngest. Disconnection surgery obtained good seizure outcomes in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy with a low incidence of long-term complications. With advances in presurgical evaluation, disconnection surgery will play a more important role in young children with intractable epilepsy.