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

Purpose: This retrospective study was designed to clarify the role of West syndrome in post-callosotomy seizure outcome in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Methods: From 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. Results: A 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. Conclusions: A history of West syndrome does not appear to influence post-callosotomy seizure outcome in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.