Radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia and epilepsy

The role of Gamma Knife surgery in the field of functional surgery recently has evolved dramatically. For treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, Gamma Kni fe surgery is the least invasive procedure, with a low rate of hypesthesia. If a rate of complete relief similar to that of other surgical techniques could be achieved, this approach will become one of the main techniques use d to treat the disease initially. The authors present their experience with a group of 16 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy who have been tr eated successfully (15 completely seizure-free and 1 with rare, nondisablin g seizures) without significant complication. After additional follow-up to demonstrate the absence of long-term consequences, this fascinating new ap proach could change epilepsy surgery practice dramatically.