otherwise known as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE).
‘Scientists demonstrate that overall brain health might be improved with epilepsy surgery among patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). This suggests that early epilepsy surgery in TLE is associated with reduced brain-predicted age.’
Efficacy of Epilepsy Surgery
Despite the evidence of the safety and efficacy of epilepsy surgery among these cases, many clinicians remain hesitant in referring patients for the surgery. The study team used advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to analyze the effects of epilepsy surgery on brain health.
The team compared brain-predicted and chronological age differences in patients before and after surgery to healthy controls.
“MRI analysis of brain-predicted and chronological age difference (BrainAGE) is thought to provide a surrogate marker of overall brain health. We have shown that BrainAGE is greater in patients with refractory TLE by at least seven years compared to healthy controls and that this difference is reduced after epilepsy surgery. Our findings are in line with other work suggesting that earlier surgery may benefit patients with refractory TLE”, says the Corresponding author of the study, Dr. Christophe de Bezenac.
Thus the study suggests that early epilepsy surgery in TLE is associated with reduced brain-predicted age.
Source: Medindia
