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Purpose Granule cells pathology in dentate gyrus, have received considerable attention in terms of understanding the pathophysiology of temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. The aim of this study was to determine the nestin (an intermediate filament protein expressed by newly formed cells), immunoreactivity (IR) in granular cells layers of hippocampal tissue extirpated during epilepsy surgical procedure, in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Methods Hippocampal sections of 16 patients with hippocampal sclerosis and drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy were processed using immunoperoxidase with antibody to nestin. Archival material from 8 normal post-mortem hippocampus, were simultaneously processed. Reactive area for nestin-IR, the total number of positive nestin cells per field (20×), and the MGV (mean gray value) was determined by computerized image analysis (ImageJ), and compared between groups. Student's t test was used for statistical analysis. Results Nestin-IR cells were found in granule cells layers of both controls and patients. Larger reactive somas ( p < 0.01) were found in epileptic's sections but a significant reduction in the total number of nestin-IR cells per field and in the MGV was found in granular cells layers of patients with hippocampal sclerosis ( p < 0.01). Conclusion Reduced expression of nestin-IR in granular cells layers of epileptic's dentate gyrus may reflect changes in dentate gyrus neuroplasticity associated to chronic temporal epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. Further studies are required to determine the clinical implications on memory an emotional alterations such as depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The occurrence of crossed aphasia as a complication after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery is extremely rare. We report the case of a 47-year-old right-handed patient with drug‐resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) who developed a transitory aphasic syndrome after a right temporal anterior lobectomy. This syndrome was characterized by anomia, poor verbal fluency, verbal perseveration, and verbal comprehension difficulties. He also showed writing difficulties, reading substitutions, and calculation task errors. The patient was regularly assessed with language tasks, and showed a spontaneous and progressive recovery of his symptoms, with remaining naming difficulties. We discuss the role that epileptogenic zone could play in cortical reorganization of the language systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction. The association between psychotic disorders and epilepsy has been controversial. Different subtypes of psychotic disorders in epilepsy patients have been described according to temporal relationship with seizures-postictal (PIP), interictal (IIP) and bimodal (BP) psychoses are described in literature. Objectives. Determine clinical characteristics of patients with refractory partial epilepsy and psychoses and compare the results with a control group of patients with refractory partial epilepsy without psychoses. Methods. A total of 57 patients with refractory partial epilepsy and psychotic disorders (psychotic group [PG]) and 56 patients with refractory partial epilepsy and without psychoses (control group, CG) were evaluated according to DSM-IV criteria and SCID-I. All patients underwent complete neurological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and psychiatric assessment. Clinical, demographic and neuroimaging data were compared between patients in CG and PG. Results. In PG 15 patients (26%) had criteria for PIP, 29 patients (51%) for IIP and 13 patients (23%) for BP. Epilepsy time duration and bilateral hippocampal sclerosis were significantly more frequent in patients with psychosis. PG patients had a longer evolution time of epilepsy and greater frequency of bilateral hippocampal sclerosis (p < 0,05). No differences were found between psychoses subtypes. Conclusions. Longer evolution of seizures and the presence of bilateral hippocampal sclerosis may increase propensity to develop psychoses in patients with refractory partial epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]