Parental assessment of functional outcome after corpus callosotomy

We wished to evaluate functional outcome and parental satisfaction after corpus callosotomy.

We studied a cohort of parents of 17 patients who had received an anterior corpus callosotomy > 7 months earlier (mean 26 months) for severe, intractable seizures. Parental satisfaction with the overall surgical results was the primary outcome measure. In addition, the parents assessed behavior changes that had been emphasized preoperatively as important aspects of their children's function, including alertness and responsiveness, falls and injuries, and special care needs. Degree of seizure reduction and extent of corpus callosum were also measured.

The parents of 15 (88%) patients reported satisfaction with the surgical outcome. All parents who expressed satisfaction would recommend callosotomy to another family in a similar situation. The behavior change most closely associated with satisfaction was improved alertness and responsiveness (p < 0.03). Although 9 patients experienced > 80% reduction in targeted seizures, satisfaction was not reported at a greater rate as compared with the 6 patients with 50-80% reduction.

Most parents report satisfaction with the outcome of their child's corpus callosotomy, but are influenced by improvement in aspects of function and behavior in addition to seizure reduction.