Clinical characteristics of 92 patients with temporal lobe focal cortical dysplasia identified by pathological examination

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is frequently associated with focal epilepsy, and a broad spectrum of histopathology is included in the diagnosis of FCD. In 2011, an International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) task force proposed an international consensus for a classification system to better characterise specific clinicopathological FCD entities. The clinical characteristics of patients with FCD should be confirmed according to the new ILAE classification. We retrospectively analysed 92 patients who had undergone surgical treatment for temporal lobe epilepsy and received a pathological diagnosis of FCD. The pathological sections were re-examined and diagnosed according to the 2011 ILAE classification. The clinical data from patients with different FCD subtypes were evaluated, including a detailed history regarding spontaneous abortions, trauma, ischaemic injury, encephalitis, and febrile seizures at an early age. The age of epilepsy onset, duration of epilepsy, age at surgery, seizure frequency, history of febrile seizures, and seizure type, particularly whether the seizures were secondarily generalised tonic-clonic seizures, were recorded. Clinical differences were found in the patients with temporal lobe FCD. The associated FCD subtypes have unique clinical characteristics, including a later age of epilepsy onset and a shorter duration of epilepsy, especially in FCD Type IIIc; and a high susceptibility to febrile seizures was observed in FCD Type IIIa.