Conclusions: The absolute interictal spike frequency is capable of differentiating patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, identifying those with temporal lobe epilepsy according to the severity of the condition. Only those patients with non-frequent spikes (<= 60 over the affected temporal lobe) have a low percentage of refractoriness with little or no presence of comorbidity. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.