Epilepsy surgery may improve children’s mood and behavior
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Epilepsy surgery in children can greatly improve their mood and behavioral problems, MedPage Today reported.
In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, researchers noted that neuropsychiatric symptoms – such as anxiety and depression – are common in children suffering from epilepsy.
To understand the impact of epilepsy surgery on these patients, the team analyzed 100 children between the ages of 5 and 16 before and after pediatric epilepsy surgery. Of the children, 54 had left hemisphere resections, and the other 46 had right side resections.
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Overall, the researchers found that 83 percent of the children were seizure-free at the time of their neuropsychological evaluation after surgery. And at their last follow-up five years after surgery, 57 percent of the children studied did not have any seizure recurrence.
Through child self-reports and parental assessments, the researchers found that children who had undergone left-sided resections had significant reductions in symptoms for depression and social anxiety – especially if their surgery had targeted the frontal lobe rather than the temporal lobe. The children who received right-sided resections with targets in either lobe saw a decline in “social problems.”
Depression was significantly reduced after surgery in all 100 patients.
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