A comparison of seizure outcome after callosotomy in patients with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome and a positive or negative history for West syndrome

SummaryPurposeThis retrospective study was designed to clarify the role of West syndrome in post-callosotomy seizure outcome in patients with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.MethodsFrom September 1989 to May 1999, 74 patients diagnosed with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome received anterior corpus callosotomy at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. All patients were followed for more than 4 years after surgery. Among them, 21 (28.4%) patients had a history of West syndrome (Group A) whereas 53 (71.6%) patients did not have a history of West syndrome (Group B). Postoperative seizure outcome was compared for these two patient groups.ResultsA total of 16 (76.2%) patients in Group A (positive history) and 29 (54.7%) patients in group B (negative history) achieved significant improvement in seizures after surgery (e.g., seizure reduction of more than 50%). There was no statistical significance (p = 0.088) in the difference in outcome between the two groups.ConclusionsA history of West syndrome does not appear to influence post-callosotomy seizure outcome in patients with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.