Short-term heart rate variability is associated with seizure outcome in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy

We examined whether standard 5-minute heart rate variability (HRV) derived from interictal EEG-ECG recordings is associated with postoperative seizure outcome in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Forty surgical TLE patients were studied before and after resection. Patients with persistent disabling seizures showed greater postoperative reductions in SDNN, RMSSD, LF, and HF power than seizure-free patients after correcting for multiple comparisons. Preoperatively, left TLE was associated with higher heart rate and lower HRV than right TLE, although lateralization differences did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons. These findings suggest that cardiac autonomic dysregulation in drug-resistant TLE is associated with postoperative seizure outcome.