The surgical outcome in 34 patients between 2 and 15 years of age who were operated on for medically intractable seizures is reported from the Neurosurgical Clinic, University Clinical Center, Visegradska 26, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Temporal epileptic foci were present in 9 patients, extratemporal foci in 6, infantile hemiplegia in 16 and epilepsia partialis continua in 3. Detectable brain lesions were present in 30 (88%). At 1-14 years post-operative follow-up (mean, 4 years), 21 (62%) are seizure free, 8 (23%) have improved, and 5 (15%) have shown no improvement. Patients with temporal foci had a partial temporal lobectomy or restricted temporofrontal resection; those with extratemporal foci had cortical resection; and patients with infantile hemiplegia had a partial hemispherectomy, extensive cortical resection or functional hemispherectomy of Rasmussen type. [1]

COMMENT. Of 16 patients with infantile hemiplegia who were subjected to hemispherectomy, 12 (75%) were seizure free. Lindsay J et al. from the Park Hospital for Children, Oxford, found a similar incidence of seizure control following hemispherectomy in 17 children with hemiplegic epilepsy. [2, 3]