Objective     To investigate the effect of interictal discharge in hippocampus on verbal intelligence quotient (vIQ) of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)  before and after operative treatment.    Methods      Clinical data of 48 patients with refractory TLE receiving surgical treatment from January 2011 to January 2015 in our hospital were collected. The patients were assessed with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-RC)

and intraoperatively implanted with electrodes for detecting the hippocampal discharge. Univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to reveal the relationship between the impairment of vIQ and related factors

such as gender and education

age at seizure onset

duration of epilepsy

types and frequency of the TLE

pathology

and hippocampal abnormalities. The change of vIQ was comparatively studied after 1year operation.    Results      Interictal discharge in hippocampus (P=0.030

OR=11.341)

earlier age of seizure onset (P=0.045

OR=7.567) and high frequency of seizure (P=0.023

OR=6.241) were the risk factors of pre-operative vIQ impairment. Of these

the interictal discharge in hippocampus was the most dangerous one

whereas hippocampal sclerosis

type and duration of the TLE

lesion side and pathological types were not closely related. Before the operation

the vIQ was significant lower in patients with interictal discharge in hippocampus compared to those of the patients without hippocampal discharge and the health control (P0.05). No significant difference of vIQ was found in patients without interictal discharge in hippocampus between pre-operation and post-operation (P0.05). By contrast

the vIQ of patients with interictal discharge in hippocampus and lesion occurred in the right side was significantly improved after the operation. Additionally

patients with curative level of Engel Ⅰ-Ⅱ had a higher vIQ after the operation

but the patients with level of Engel Ⅲ-Ⅳ suffered a significant decline of the vIQ (P0.05). Conclusion   The patients with the interictal discharge in the hippocampus

particularly with the earlier age of seizure onset and high frequency of seizure

would have worse linguistic function.