In this controlled, prospective and partially blind study two groups of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy were evaluated, respectively with good and bad prognosis. Measurements of epileptogenesis were based on frequency of seizures, and on epiletogenic eletroencephalographic abnormalities obtained from scalp electrodes over the temporal lobes. The results were analised by non-parametric analysis of variance, comparison of groups and analysis of correlation. The results indicated the temporal lobe groups were similar to at least one of the control groups in age, sex, educational and social level, therapeutic regime, age at onset and length of history of epilepsy. The quantitative measurements showed a global difference between the group of temporal lobe with bad and good prognosis, reaching statistical significance in clinical epileptogenesis, and a trend towards greater epileptogenesis on the eletroencephalogram, in the same group of patients. The results indicate the experimental usefulness of some of the original measurements used in the study, but also their problems. A review of the literature is carried out.
temporal lobe epilepsy; epileptogenesis; EEG