Psychotic disorders in Argentine patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy: A case–control study

LUCIANA D’ALESSIO, BRENDA GIAGANTE, CRISTINA PAPAYANNIS, SILVIA ODDO, WALTER SILVA, PATRICIA SOLÍS, VICENTE DONNOLI, MARCELO KAUFFMAN, DAMIÁN CONSALVO, LUIS MARÍA ZIEHER, SILVIA KOCHEN

EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR (PRINT)

Elselvier

Año: 2009 vol. 14 p. 604 - 609

1525-5050

article info Article history: Received 22 January 2009 Revised 15 February 2009 Accepted 18 February 2009 Available online 21 February 2009 Keywords: Psychotic disorders Refractory temporal lobe epilepsy Epilepsy surgery candidates DSM-IV criteria The issue of psychotic disorders in epilepsy has given rise to great controversy among professionals; however, there are not many studies in this area and the physiopathological mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the spectrum of psychotic disorders in an Argentine pop- ulation with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (RTLE) and to determine the risk factors associated with psychotic disorders. Clinical variables of the epileptic syndrome were compared among a selected pop- ulation with RTLE with and without psychotic disorders (DSM-IV/Ictal Classification of psychoses). Logis- tic regression was performed. Sixty-three patients with psychotic disorders (Psychotic Group, PG) and 60 controls (Control Group, CG) were included. The most frequent psychotic disorders were brief psychotic episodes (35%) (DSM-IV) and interictal psychosis (50%) (Ictal Classification). Risk factors for psychotic dis- orders were bilateral hippocampal sclerosis, history of status epilepticus, and duration of epilepsy greater than 20 years.