(1958) observed only seven patients with paranoid tendencies of whom none were described as psychotic. Twenty-eight of these patients had no observable mental disorders.The purpose of this investigation was firstly to describe in traditional terms the categories of psychopathology related to temporal lobe epilepsy, and secondly to record the results of temporal lobectomy. The influence of aetiology, genetics, pathology, and intellect on the clinical course before and after operation was studied, and a search was made for prognostic signs which might help in making a decision for or against surgery. Patients and methodsThe present study includes 74 consecutive patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy who, during the years 1960-1969, were submitted to unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection.

Over a 9 month period 18 women were admitted for acute urinary retention to six different Copenhagen hospitals, serving a population of approximately 700,000 people. Urodynamically 9 patients had underactive detrusor function, 2 had infravesical obstruction and 3 had both underactive detrusor function and infravesical obstruction. In 4 patients bladder and urethral function were not classified. In 10 patients a provocative event preceded the retention episode. Eleven patients developed recurrent retention within 3 months and 7 patients had persistent severe obstructive voiding problems. Best prognosis was found for patients with correctable infravesical obstruction and for patients with minimal symptoms prior to the retention episode.

S U M MAR Y In the survey of 74 Danish patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent temporal lobectomy, a total of 20 patients were psychotic. Nine of these became psychotic during the follow-up period, six of them after cessation of their epileptic seizures. There were 13 schizophrenia-like psychoses, six paranoid delusional and depressive psychoses, and one childhood psychosis. Operation was on the right side in 39 and on the left side in 35 patients. When the various psychotic groups were compared with each other or with the nonpsychotic patients, the side of operation was no,t found to be statistically important. The patients with psychoses were older at operation and showed a higher rate of focal lesions in the resected specimens. Although more psychotic patients were bright or normally gifted, and had achieved a higher standard of schooling than nonpsychotic patients, their social status after operation was inferior. Surgery had no effect on psychosis present preoperatively nor on its possible postoperative onset. The diagnosis of psychosis was not considered to be a contraindication to temporal lobectomy.

This survey covers 2,282 published temporal lobe resections, performed from 1928–1973, all over the world, as treatment of invalidating, drug‐resistant epilepsy. At follow‐up, two‐thirds of the patients were free or almost free from seizures; and over half of those patients who were mentally abnormal before the operation were normalized or had obtained a marked improvement. The operative mortality has always been very low. No operative mortality has been recorded within the last decade. The risk of severe complications such as persistent hemiparesis and/or a complete homonymous hemianopia has decreased markedly, and is now only a few per cent.