Understanding the causes of language decline following temporal lobe epilepsy surgery

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent surgery (n=127) also underwent neuropsychological testing pre- and post-operatively. There were significant differences in post-operative outcomes depending on the location of resection.
Surgical damage to the arcuate or inferior fronto-occipital region in language dominant resections and increased middle longitudinal damage in non-language dominant resections, correlated to greater language decline.
Substantial language decline following epilepsy surgery involving resection in the language dominant hemisphere is common. The authors concluded that such decline is associated with white matter fiber transection.