Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) | |
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Lobes of the brain, temporal lobe in pink | |
Classification and external resources | |
Specialty | Psychiatry, Neurology |
ICD-10 | G40.1-G40.2 |
ICD-9-CM | 345.4 |
DiseasesDB | 29433 |
MedlinePlus | 001399 |
eMedicine | neuro/365 |
Patient UK | Temporal lobe epilepsy |
MeSH | D004833 |
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a chronic disorder of the nervous system characterized by recurrent, unprovoked focal seizures that originate in the temporal lobe of the brain and last about one or two minutes. TLE is the most common form of epilepsy with focal seizures. People with TLE may experience simple partial seizures that only affect the temporal lobe or complex partial seizures that spread to other regions of the brain.
TLE is usually diagnosed in childhood or by the teenage years. Physicians diagnose TLE by taking a medical history, blood tests, and brain imaging. It can have a number of causes such as head injury, stroke, brain infections, structural lesions in the brain, or brain tumors, or it can be idiopathic and have no apparent cause. The first line of treatment is through anticonvulsant medication. Surgery may be an option for some people, especially when there is an observable abnormality in the brain. Another treatment option is electrical stimulation of the brain through an implantation called the vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) device.
Over forty types of epilepsy are recognized and these are divided into two main seizures: Partial seizure and generalized seizure. Partial seizures account for approximately sixty percent of all adult cases. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the single most common form of partial seizure.
The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) recognizes two main types of temporal lobe epilepsy: mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), arising in the hippocampus, the parahippocampal gyrus and the amygdala which are located in the inner (medial) aspect of the temporal lobe and lateral temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE), the rarer type, arising in the neocortex at the outer (lateral) surface of the temporal lobe. The seizures of LTLE are characterized by auditory or visual features. Autosomal dominant Lateral Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (ADLTLE) is a rare hereditary condition.