Early detection, appropriate management helpful in treatment of TLE: Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui
KARACHI, Nov 18 (SABAH): Early detection and appropriate management and therapeutic strategies can improve the prognosis of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), said noted neurophysician of the country Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui.
In her presentation on ‘temporal epilepsy: bridge between neurology and psychiatry’ delivered at International Experts Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she said that TLE is a seizure disorder, and its most common structural abnormality is mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). She said that TLE is often associated with psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and interictal dysphoria. These disorders can also be accompanied by cognitive, learning, and behavioral impairment.
Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui said that there is a bidirectional relationship between epilepsy and certain neurobehavioral disorders. Patients with primary psychiatric disorders have a greater risk of developing epilepsy.
Quoting some research, she said that sclerosis of the hippocampus is the most frequent cause of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). TLE is among all epilepsies the most frequently associated with psychiatric comorbidity. Anxiety, depression, and interictal dysphoria are recurrent psychiatric disorders in pediatric patients with TLE. In addition, these alterations are often combined with cognitive, learning, and behavioral impairment. These comorbidities occur more frequently in TLE with hippocampal sclerosis and with pharmacoresistance.
Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui said that according to the bidirectional hypothesis, the close relationship between TLE and psychiatric features should lead to considering common pathophysiology underlying these disorders. Psychiatric comorbidities considerably reduce the quality of life of these children and their families.
She; however, dedicated all her presentations to her sister Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Other speakers included Dr. Saba Zaidi, Dr. M. Iqbal Afridi, Dr. Salman and Dr. Dureshehwar Kanwar.