Mesial temporal sclerosis in children.

UNLABELLED Mesial temporal sclerosis is the most frequent cause of drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy but has a satisfactory response to surgery, and is considered infrequent in children. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical, electrographic and radiological spectrum of the disease in children. METHOD Retrospective study by review of charts of 44 children with a diagnosis of mesial temporal sclerosis on magnetic resonance imaging, attended at the "Hospital das Clínicas" of the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine. RESULTS Febrile seizure was identified in the history of 54% of the patients. Injuries at the left side predominated in patients with schooling difficulties (p=0.049), in those with first seizures between six months and five years (p=0.021) and in those with complex febrile seizure (p=0.032). Thirteen patients were submitted to surgery and of these, eight remained without seizures. CONCLUSION Febrile seizure may be related in a more direct way to the presence of left-side mesial temporal sclerosis.