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The Neurosurgical Treatment of Epilepsy
William O. Tatum, IV, DO;
Selim R. Benbadis, MD;
Fernando L. Vale, MD
Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:1142-1147.
Despite the new advancements in antiepileptic drug development, thousands of people with epilepsy will remain intractable to medication. For a considerable proportion of these people, epilepsy surgery is a consideration for better control of their seizures. Resective surgery is now standard practice for patients with medication-refractory epilepsy. Temporal lobectomy continues to be the most common surgery performed. Once patients fail 2 to 3 optimal trials of antiepileptic medication, further drug therapy offers a minimal number of patients freedom from seizures. In contrast, temporal lobectomy in carefully selected patients may result in seizure-free outcomes in more than 70% to 90% of patients with intractable seizures. As technology and drug availability increases in the new millennium, it is important for the primary care physician to be aware of epilepsy surgery as a means to treat patients with antiepileptic drug–refractory epilepsy.
From the Departments of Neurology (Drs Tatum and Benbadis) and Neurosurgery (Drs Benbadis and Vale), Tampa General Hospital Epilepsy Center, University of South Florida, Tampa.
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