Neuropsychological performance in posttraumatic epilepsy

Performances on the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale and on Halstead's neuropsychological measures were investigated in two groups of adult subjects with posttraumatic seizures. One of the groups, in addition to seizures, had abnormal and persistent focal cortical signs. The other group had seizures only and no other known deficits or complications. The results suggest that posttraumatic epilepsy, whether or not accompanied by abnormal and persistent focal cortical signs, is associated with significant psychological impairment. Patients with posttraumatic epilepsy alone perform somewhat better than those whose epilepsy is accompanied by independent evidence of cortical damage. However, the performance difference between such patients is not major, nor is it statistically significant on most measures such as those used in the present study. Possible reasons for the performance deficit in this group were discussed.