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Post‐traumatic stress disorder and amygdala‐hippocampectomy
Author(s) -
Adami P.,
König P.,
Vetter Z.,
Hausmann A.,
Conca A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2005.00737.x
Subject(s) - hippocampal sclerosis , amygdala , disconnection , hippocampal formation , etiology , epilepsy , psychology , epilepsy surgery , psychiatry , traumatic stress , hippocampus , medicine , neuroscience , temporal lobe , political science , law
Objective: The case report suggests the indispensability of preoperative accurate psychiatric checkups especially in temporal resections. Method: A single case was reported. Results: We report the case of a 20‐year‐old woman suffering for 12 years from primary generalized epilepsy, attributed to left‐sided hippocampal sclerosis. Because seizures were resistant to drug therapy, she underwent amygdala‐hippocampectomy at the age of 18. Furthermore, she had previously been victim of childhood sexual abuse. Two weeks after epilepsy surgery, she manifested symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Conclusion: There is evidence that the amygdala‐hippocampal region is both functionally and morphologically involved in the aetiology of PTSD. The removal of this marked neuroanatomical region and the resulting disconnection and asymmetry between right and left amygdala‐hippocampal region might be seen as an evidence for this region aetiologically being involved in the patient's PTSD symptoms.