Objective: To study the clinical characteristics and operative effect of hippocampus lesions.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and operative outcome of 44 patients with hippocampus lesions between August 2005 and April 2010.
Results: Seizure attack was the initial symptom among 40 of the 44 patients. Pathological examinations revealed 18 gliomas, 9 cavernous malformations, 12 hippocampus sclerosis, 2 focal cortical dysplasia, 1 atypical hyperplasia, 1 injury glial scar, and 1 encephalomalacia. Thirteen patients received anterior medial temporal lobectomy and the other 31 received lesionectomy or selective amygdalohippocampectomy via transsylvian approach. An average of 15.7 month follow-up was accomplished in 37 patients. Postoperative epileptic outcomes were evaluated according to Engel classification: Grade I 73.0%(27/37), Grade II 13.5%(5/37), Grade III 10.8%(4/37) and Grade IV 2.7%(1/37). No perioperative death occurred. One patient experienced hemiplegia but recovered 8 months after the operation. Noticeable postoperative visual field deficit was left in 2 patients. Two patients with glioma died of remote tumor recurrence during follow-up.
Conclusion: Seizure attack is a major complaint of hippocampus lesions. Satisfactory seizure and tumor control may be achieved through anterior medial temporal lobectomy or selective amygdalohippocampectomy with lesionectomy.