Distúrbios de memória em pacientes epilépticos

The author studied the mnemonic activity from epileptic patients with complex partial seizures (CPS), with the aims: 1) to identify memory disorders; and 2) to compare the patients' with the controls' results. Fifty adult patients and 20 subjects without neuropsychiatric disorders were studied. The methods consisted in: 1) investigation of the mnemonic activity through the Wechsler Memory Test (subtests: Storage and Recall, Recent Memory, and Immediate Memory); 2) comparison among the results of both groups; association from mnemonic activity with brain SPECT. In the three subtests, the patients showed cognitive performance significantly lower than the controls (p <0,05). It was found association from reduced blood flow, mainly in left temporal region, with memory impairment of the three subtetsts. The conclusion was that the CPS are associated to memory impairment.