A Case of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy: The Specific Cognitive Deficits and the Psychiatric Symptoms

Abstract

Introduction: Memory deficits, both short-term and long-term, as well as post-traumatic amnesia, are very common in patients who have undergone TBI, but rarely reflect a classic amnesia syndrome. Memory difficulties can be the result of many different factors, not the result of a single deficit. According to Brookshire, reduced hippocampal volume and white matter are associated with memory deficits. Aim: To investigate the neuropsychological profile and memory storage difficulties from partial brain damage in a case of post-traumatic epilepsy. Materials and method: An international literature review was performed on Pub Med and Cochrane online databases on epilepsy, and information material from the historical, psychiatric and neuropsychological evaluation of a female patient presenting with symptoms of mental disorder, history of epileptic seizures and history was used. Results: The patient was shown to maintain a normal level of ability to perform daily activities as well as an assessment of reality control. Her performance across the range of cognitive abilities ranged below the normal limits for her age and level of education. Conclusion: Development of psychosis following surgery to reduce seizures may be observed. Specific cognitive deficits and psychiatric symptoms are associated with impaired right temporal lobe function, and differentiate this particular patient profile from other syndromes associated with focal degeneration of the frontal and left temporal lobe.