@article{ref1,
title="Depression in intractable partial epilepsy varies by laterality of focus and surgery",
journal="Epilepsia",
year="2003",
author="Quigg, Mark and Broshek, Donna K. and Heidal-Schiltz, Susan and Maedgen, Jennifer W. and Bertram, Edward H.",
volume="44",
number="3",
pages="419-424",
abstract="PURPOSE: Depression sometimes occurs after surgical treatment for medically intractable partial epilepsy. The risk of pre- and postsurgical depression may vary by laterality of seizure focus. We reviewed the pre- and postsurgical psychological assessments and clinical courses of patients to identify those at highest risk for postsurgical mood disorders. METHODS: Depression status was assessed in a consecutive series of epilepsy patients before and 1 year after epilepsy surgery with the use of Scale 2 of the MMPI-2 and a clinical depression index (CDI) scoring the occurrence of depressive symptoms, psychiatric referral, or attempted/completed suicide. Outcome at 1 year was modeled by regression techniques as functions of preoperative mood measurements, side of epilepsy surgery, and preoperative verbal intelligence. RESULTS: The CDI and Scale 2 MMPI-2 correlated significantly (r = 0.341; p < or = 0.01). Left (n = 54 subjects) and right (n = 53) surgery groups did not differ by sex, seizure outcome, age, education, age at first seizure, duration of epilepsy, or intellect. Higher presurgical depressive morbidity (p = 0.0037) and right-sided surgery (p = 0.0003) predicted higher postoperative CDI. Higher preoperative Scale 2 scores, indicating worse depressive traits, predicted worse postoperative Scale 2 scores (p < 0.0001). Although side of surgery did not predict Scale 2 scores, Scale 2 scores of patients with preoperative right-sided foci tended to have worse postsurgical Scale 2 scores (p = 0.08). Findings for the temporal lobectomy subgroup (n = 90) were similar to those of the overall sample. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing right hemispheric epilepsy surgery, especially those with high presurgical depression-related morbidity, may be particularly susceptible to clinical depression. Our findings support other studies that show an interhemispheric modulation of depressive traits and symptoms.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0013-9580",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}