Epilepsy in Temporal Lobe Tumours

The authors studied a series of 308 patients with temporal lobe tumours (265 intracerebral and 43 extracerebral). The incidence of epilepsy in intracerebral temporal tumours was 41%. Epilepsy occurred most frequently in oligodendrogliomas (84%) and astrocytomas (53%). In 39% of patients various types of epilepsy were noted in the onset period of the tumoural symptomatology, and in 19% of cases epilepsy was the 1st symptom of the disease. The main clinical aspect of the seizures was that of paroxysmal alteration of consciousness without complete loss of awareness. Sensory hallucinations occurred either as aura or as independent manifestations. The most common electroencephalographic aspect was that of focalized slow waves, revealing the existence of the tumour. Sharp waves were recorded in only 6% of cases with epilepsy. In extracerebral temporal tumours, epilepsy was encountered most frequently in the cases of meningiomas of the temporal fossa (70%).