Comparison of Frontal Lobe Epilepsy and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy——A Study of 549 Cases

Aim:To compare the difference of the clinical features in frontal lobe epilepsy(FLE) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with an indication of the clinical diagnosis. Methods:All patients with seizures visited between Aug. 2001 and Dec. 2005 in our epilepsy center were analyzed based on International League Against Epilepsy (1989, ILAE) Classification. A retrospective study was carried out including 382 TLE cases and 167 FLE cases. A χ2 test and Odds ratio were used for statistical analysis. Results:The mean age at onset of TLE cases was 21.38 years of age, most of them was distributed between 6 and 35 years of age, the mean age at onset of FLE cases was 10.46, most of them was lower than 15 years of age. The abnormalities of MRI (35.6%) in TLE were more common than those (15.6%) in FLE (P0.05). The two groups were significantly different in seizure types(P0.000 1), Odd=0.014, the mean age at onset of temporal lobe(0.01￣0.03), interparoxysmal EEG features (bilateral epileptic discharges[(P0.000 1), Odd=0.371(0.25￣0.55)], synchronization of epileptic discharges, multilobes discharges, increase of discharges during sleep), seizure frequency[(P0.000 1), Odd=0.495(0.34-0.72)]and prognosis. Conclusion:The age at onset, seizure, especially aura [simple partial seizure(SPS) and complex partial seizure (CPS)], seizure frequency associated with EEG features are the important diagnostic basis of FLE and TLE. Their clinical diagnosis is important to decide which treatment should be selected