These results in Brazilian patients reinforce the external validation of previous findings in Canadian patients showing that presurgical depression and complete seizure control after surgery are independent predictors for meaningful improvement in QOL after ATL, and have implications for the surgical management of MTLE patients.

The pre-surgical variables studied had relatively low prediction capacity for the overall QOLIE-31 score and its sub-scales in this set of Brazilian patients with refractory MTLE-HS.

Objectives: To identify variables independently associated with a meaningful improvement in QOL long after surgical treatment of drug-resistant MTLE-HS patients. Material & Methods:We prospectively evaluated 72 consecutive MTLE-HS surgically treated patients and analyzed pre and post-surgical variables independently associated with a meaningful improvement in QOL evaluated by the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) overall score, and its domain scores determined at follow-up after 36 to 131 months (mean 93 months) after surgery. Results:The mean overall QOLIE-31 score and its subdomain scores improved significantly after surgery (p < 0.01), and 55 patients (76.4%) had a meaningful QOL improvement. Being seizure-free (Engel IA) after surgery showed a non-significant association (OR 2.63, CI 95% 0.53 to 13.05, p = 0.23) and lower depressive symptoms a significant association (OR 4.15, CI 95% 1.19 to 14.53, p = 0.03) with meaningful improvement of QOL.Conclusions: Patients with MTLE-HS who underwent epilepsy surgery show a sustained, meaningful improvement in their QOL. Pre-surgical variables do not predict long-term QOL improvement after surgery. Lower levels of depressive symptoms at postoperative evaluation are associated with meaningful QOL improvement.

No abstract

Este artigo teve como objetivo construir e apresentar um plano de cuidados pré e pós-operatórios para pacientes submetidos à cirurgia de cortico-amígdalo-hipocampectomia<br />(ahc) para ser implementado em uma unidade de internação cirúrgica de um Hospital Universitário do Sul do Brasil. Trata-se de um relato de experiência desenvolvida durante o Estágio Supervisionado de Enfermagem por graduandos de enfermagem. Construiu-se um plano com 26 cuidados de enfermagem para pacientes submetidos à cirurgia de ahc, que foi validado por profissionais experts da área. Realizaram-se encontros expositivos e dialogados com a equipe de enfermagem para esclarecer e desmistificar a epilepsia, suas diferentes apresentações de crises e possibilidades de tratamento, bem como apresentar o plano de cuidados elaborado. Essa experiência contribuiu com a formação profissional dos estudantes, assim como forneceu<br />subsídios para a implementação da sistematização da assistência de enfermagem a este paciente específico, considerando o cuidado sistematizado uma ferramenta fundamental no trabalho do enfermeiro.

Epilepsy may restrict the patient's daily life. It causes lower quality of life and increased risk for work-related accidents (WRA). The aim of this study is to analyze the implantation of the Epidemiologic and Technical Security System Nexus (ETSSN) and WRA patterns among patients with epilepsy. Data regarding WRA, between 1999 and 2008, on the historical database of WRA Infolog Statistical Yearbook from Brazilian Ministry of Social Security were reviewed. There was a significant increase of reported cases during the ten year period, mainly after the establishment of the ETSSN. The increased granted benefits evidenced the epidemiologic association between epilepsy and WRA. ETSSN possibly raised the registration of occupational accidents and granted benefits. However, the real number of WRA may remain underestimated due to informal economy and house workers' accidents which are usually not included in the official statistics in Brazil. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that impairs quality of life and inflicts large expenditures over a nation's health care budget 1 . Epilepsy, due to its seizures and chronicity, is a condition which alters individual's life both physical and emotionally. It is a stigmatizing condition and usually restricts the patient's daily activities,