The outcome of epilepsy surgery
- National Society for Epilepsy, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- j.duncan{at}ion.ucl.ac.uk
The rapid expansion in epilepsy surgery over the past decade has been principally underpinned by advances in brain imaging. In particular, the development of high resolution MRI, which can identify and predict the pathology of underlying lesions and define their anatomical relation to other brain structures.1 The importance of this prediction is that the nature of the underlying lesion is a major determinant of the chance of a good result from surgical resection. Overall the chances of long term freedom from seizure after resection of a sclerotic hippocampus is about 60%.2 Surgery on malformations of cortical development carries less good odds, with an …
