Abstract
Objective
We aimed to assess determinants of seizure outcome following pediatric hemispherotomy in a contemporary cohort.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed the seizure outcomes of 457 children who underwent hemispheric surgery in five European epilepsy centers between 2000 and 2016. We identified variables related to seizure outcome through multivariable regression modeling with missing data imputation and optimal group matching and further investigated the role of surgical technique by Bayes factor (BF) analysis.
Results
177 (39%) children underwent vertical and 280 (61%) lateral hemispherotomy. 344 (75%) children achieved seizure freedom at a mean follow-up of 5.1 years (range 1 to 17.1). We identified acquired etiology other than stroke (odds ratio (OR) 4.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-18.0), hemimegalencephaly (OR 2.8, CI 1.1-7.3), contralateral MRI findings (5.5, CI 2.7-11.1), prior resective surgery (OR 5.0, CI 1.8-14.0), and left hemispherotomy (OR 2.3, CI 1.3-3.9), as significant determinants of seizure recurrence. We found no evidence for an impact of the hemispherotomy technique on seizure outcome (the Bayes factor for a model including the hemispherotomy technique over the null model was 1.1), with comparable overall major complication rates for different approaches.
Significance
Knowledge about independent determinants of seizure outcome following pediatric hemispherotomy will improve the counseling of patients and families. In contrast to previous reports, we found no statistically-relevant difference in seizure-freedom rates between the vertical and horizontal hemispherotomy techniques when accounting for different clinical features between groups.
MAR