Background& Objective: Temporal lobe epilepsy has been associatedwith psychopathology especially
obsessive-compulsive (OC) traits or symptoms as one of it’s specific personality characteristics as
compared to other epilepsies. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence and type of OC
symptoms in patients with complex partial seizures (CPS) and generalized seizure disorders and the
association of OC symptoms with right or left sided lesions in patients with CPS. Methods: Thirty
patients each of CPS and generalized seizure disorder were enrolled to study OC symptoms with the
help of the Padua Inventory, a 39 item measure of obsessions and compulsions on 5 content areas
relevant to obsessive compulsive disorder. A proforma was prepared to study the various demographic
variables, details of seizure disorder and MRI findings. Results: Ninety three per cent of CPS
patients had OC symptoms as compared to 40% generalized seizure patients which was statistically
significant. Dressing and grooming compulsions, contamination obsessions and washing compulsions
were predominant in both the groups. On all the domains of the Padua Inventory, the CPS patients
had statistically significant dysfunction than the generalized seizure patients. A highly significant
association between left sided temporal lobe sclerosis for obsessions of contamination and washing
as well as dressing and grooming was seen in the CPS patients.
Conclusions: Involvement of different brain structures in different epileptic syndromes, plays a role
in the susceptibility to develop specific psychopathological disorders like OC symptoms or obsessive
compulsive disorder which are seen more in CPS as compared to generalized seizures.
Epilepsy