TEMPORAL LOBECTOMY - AN OVERVIEW OF ITS R OLE AND INDICATION IN EPILEPSY SURGERY

When a focal epilepsy proves refractory to medical therapy, surgical t reatment is increasingly used. Most interventions consist in cortical resections, and by far the most common operation is a temporal lobecto my. The presurgical evaluation is a multi-disciplinary one, and includ es history and examination, neuropsychological testing, neuro-imaging techniques, (functional imaging and intracarotid amobarbital procedure ), and neurophysiologic data (EEG-video monitoring). When non-invasive EEG does nor succeed in localizing the epileptogenic sone with suffic ient accuracy, several invasive techniques ore available. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In appropriately selected cases, po stoperative outcome is excellent, especially in temporal lobe epilepsy . In general, outcome is slightly less successful in extra-temporal ca ses.