Objectives: The frequency of visual field defects (VFD) after temporal lobe resections (TLR) was compared for two types of TLR and VFD frequency was correlated to resection size.
Methods: Pre- and post-operative perimetry results were analysed for 50 patients with TLR for medically intractable epilepsy. Thirty-three patients had a classical TLR and 17 had a TLR with less lateral extension. Post-operative MRIs were studied in 34 patients by scoring resection size in 12 compartments in the temporal lobe.
Results: Twenty-five patients developed a VFD. In the classical TLR group, 16 of 33 developed a VFD, compared with nine of 17 in the other group. The resection points were higher for the VFD group in the most anterior compartment studied, in the superior temporal gyrus.
Conclusions: There was no clearcut difference in VFD frequency between the surgical methods studied. However, the compartmentalized analysis disclosed a relation between the extent of resection in the anterior part of the superior temporal gyrus and VFD frequency.
Copyright Blackwell Munksgaard, 2004.