rss
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994;57:232-233 doi:10.1136/jnnp.57.2.232
  • Research Article

Depression in secondary epilepsy: relation to lesion laterality.

  1. M F Mendez,
  2. J L Taylor,
  3. R C Doss,
  4. P Salguero
  1. St Paul-Ramsey Medical Center, University of Minnesota, St Paul 55101.

      Abstract

      Patients with epilepsy often have depressive disorders. This association may be particularly prominent in secondary epilepsy from a left hemisphere lesion. Among 1611 outpatients with epilepsy 272 patients were identified whose seizures originated from a structural brain lesion other than mesial temporal sclerosis. Sustained depressive disorders had occurred in 25 (9%) of these patients with secondary epilepsy. The depressed patients were compared with the remaining patients without depression with regard to location of lesion laterality and seizure variables. The only group difference was unilateral left hemisphere lesions in 58% of the patients with depression compared with only 21% of the non-depressed patients (chi 2 = 10.4, p = 0.006). This finding supports the idea of a relation of depression with epileptogenic lesions in the left hemisphere.

      Register for free content

      The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

      Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.

      BMJ Careers - Latest neurology and neurosurgery jobs