Volume 95, Issue 2 pp. 377-387
Research Article

Determinants of Functional Outcome after Pediatric Hemispherotomy

Georgia Ramantani MD, PhD

Corresponding Author

Georgia Ramantani MD, PhD

Department of Neuropediatrics, University Children's Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Address correspondence to Dr Ramantani, Department of Neuropediatrics, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Dorottya Cserpan PhD

Dorottya Cserpan PhD

Department of Neuropediatrics, University Children's Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Search for more papers by this author
Martin Tisdall MD

Martin Tisdall MD

Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Search for more papers by this author
Willem M. Otte PhD

Willem M. Otte PhD

Department of Child Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Search for more papers by this author
Georg Dorfmüller MD, PhD

Georg Dorfmüller MD, PhD

Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Paris, France

Search for more papers by this author
J. Helen Cross MD, PhD

J. Helen Cross MD, PhD

Department of Neurology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street and University College London National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Search for more papers by this author
Monique van Schooneveld PhD

Monique van Schooneveld PhD

Department of Child Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Search for more papers by this author
Pieter van Eijsden MD

Pieter van Eijsden MD

Department of Child Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Search for more papers by this author
Frauke Nees PhD

Frauke Nees PhD

Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
Gitta Reuner MD, PhD

Gitta Reuner MD, PhD

Institute of Education Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Cultural Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
Niklaus Krayenbühl MD, PhD

Niklaus Krayenbühl MD, PhD

Department of Neurosurgery, University Children's Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Search for more papers by this author
Josef Zentner MD, PhD

Josef Zentner MD, PhD

Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Search for more papers by this author
Christine Bulteau MD, PhD

Christine Bulteau MD, PhD

Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Paris, France

University of Paris, MC2Lab, Institute of Psychology, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

Search for more papers by this author
Kees P. J. Braun MD, PhD

Kees P. J. Braun MD, PhD

Department of Child Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 14 November 2023
Citations: 3

D.C. and M.T. contributed equally to this work.

C.B. and K.P.J.B. contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to evaluate determinants of functional outcome after pediatric hemispherotomy in a large and recent multicenter cohort.

Methods

We retrospectively investigated the functional outcomes of 455 children who underwent hemispherotomy at 5 epilepsy centers in 2000–2016. We identified determinants of unaided walking, voluntary grasping with the hemiplegic hand, and speaking through Bayesian multivariable regression modeling using missing data imputation.

Results

Seventy-five percent of children were seizure-free, and 44% stopped antiseizure medication at a 5.1-year mean follow-up (range = 1–17.1). Seventy-seven percent of children could walk unaided, 8% could grasp voluntarily, and 68% could speak at the last follow-up. Children were unlikely to walk when they had contralateral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities (40/73, p = 0.04), recurrent seizures following hemispherotomy (62/109, p = 0.04), and moderately (50/61, p = 0.03) or severely impaired (127/199, p = 0.001) postsurgical intellectual functioning, but were likely to walk when they were older at outcome determination (p = 0.01). Children were unlikely to grasp voluntarily with the hand contralateral to surgery when they had Rasmussen encephalitis (0/61, p = 0.001) or Sturge–Weber syndrome (0/32, p = 0.007). Children were unlikely to speak when they had contralateral MRI abnormalities (30/69, p = 0.002) and longer epilepsy duration (p = 0.01), but likely to speak when they had Sturge–Weber syndrome (29/35, p = 0.01), were older at surgery (p = 0.04), and were older at outcome determination (p < 0.001).

Interpretation

Etiology and bilaterality of structural brain abnormalities were key determinants of functional outcome after hemispherotomy. Longer epilepsy duration affected language outcomes. Not surprisingly, walking and talking ability increased with older age at outcome evaluation. ANN NEUROL 2024;95:377–387

Potential Conflicts of Interest

Nothing to report.

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting this study's findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.

click me