Effect of Material-specificity on the Wada Memory Test in Medial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Hippocampal Sclerosis

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 17(4); 1999 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 1999;17(4): 486-490.

해마 위축을 동반한 측두엽 간질에서 기억 소재 특이성이 와다 기억 검사에 미치는 영향

박성호, 남현우 ·이상건 ·이광우 ·노재규

서울대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실

Effect of Material-specificity on the Wada Memory Test in Medial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Hippocampal Sclerosis

Seong-Ho Park, M.D., Hyunwoo Nam, M.D., Sang-Kun Lee, M.D., Kwang-Woo Lee, M.D., Jae-Kyu Roh, M.D.

Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University

Abstract

Backgrounds : The Wada test is a useful method in predicting the laterality of a epileptogenic zone. However, past research reveals that material specificity has an influence on the lateralization We examined the material-specificity of memory and its change in epileptic patients to discover reasonable items on the Wada test for the proper lateralization of the epileptogenic zone. Methods : We analyzed 45 patients with video-EEG-confirmed medial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) and definite hippocampal atrophy by an MRI. Eight items were presented during the Wada test including 3 common objects, 1 geometric object, 1 color, 1 word, 1 phrase, and 1 math expression. We checked recognition memo-ry after recovery of hemiparesis and normalization of EEG. Results : For the right mTLE group, recognition memory following a right hemisphere injection was significantly better than a left hemisphere injection for all categories. For the left mTLE group, a significant difference of scores was found for the left versus right hemisphere injection for common objects. When injected to the left hemisphere, all the items helped lateralization, but when injected to the right hemisphere, a phrase did not help with lateralization. Conclusions : Items with strong unilateral encodings do not help lateralizing the epileptogenic zone. J Kor Neurol Ass 17(4):486~490, 1999 Key Words : Wada Test, Material Specificity, Medial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy