EPILEPSY SURGERY - REMOVING THE THORN FROM THE LIONS PAW

In the United States, 10,000 to 20,000 patients have epilepsy uncontro lled by medication. The addition of a second-line drug to the primary regimen has a 2% to 11% chance of controlling the seizures. We present a series of 35 patients with intractable epilepsy who had surgical re section of their seizure focus. Seventy-five percent of the patients w ith temporal lobe epilepsy were made seizure free, with an additional 14% sustaining a greater than 90% reduction in seizures (decrease in n umber and frequency). Seventy-one percent of the patients with extrate mporal lobe epilepsy (seizures originating outside the temporal lobe) had a worthwhile reduction (> 90%) in their seizures. Two patients sus tained permanent clinically significant deficits as a result of their presurgical evaluation or resection. There were no deaths. Epilepsy su rgery offers a cure for the ''incurable'' patient with a morbidity of 5% to 6%.