Depression in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the comorbidity of depressive disorders in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHOD: We evaluated 25 consecutive patients with refractory TLE (16 women and 9 men), using semi-structured psychiatric interviews, according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and the Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: Seventeen of 25 patients (68%) had depressive disorder: 6 with dysthymia, three with major depressive episodes and 8 with recurrent depressive disorders. Two (8%) were diagnosed with mixed anxiety and depression. Only 5 of 17 patients (29.4%) were previously diagnosed with depressive disorder and received prior antidepressant treatment. Duration of epilepsy was significantly higher in patients with depressive disorder (p=0.016), but there was no relationship between depression and seizure frequency. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that depressive disorders are common and underdiagnosed in patients with TLE refractory to AEDs. Patients with longer duration of epilepsy are at higher risk of having depression.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gonçalves,Eleonora Borges, Cendes,Fernando
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Neurologia - ABNEURO 2011
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2011000600010
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