Intractable epilepsy: management and therapeutic alternatives.

Full Abstract

More than half of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy achieve complete seizure control without major side-effects. Patients who continue to have seizures after initial medical therapy should have an early and detailed assessment to confirm the diagnosis, to determine the underlying cause and epilepsy syndrome, and to choose an adequate treatment strategy. The risks and potential benefits of surgical procedures or experimental therapy have to be weighed against the chance of improvement and the potential side-effects of additional medical therapy. Surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common cause of focal epilepsy, can control seizures and improve quality of life in appropriately selected patients. However, around 20-30% of patients do not respond to medical or surgical treatment. The management of chronic intractable epilepsy requires comprehensive care to address the adverse events of medical treatment, quality of life issues, and comorbid disorders. Much research focuses on the experimental treatment options that offer hope of seizure reduction or cure.

Author information

Author/s: Schuele, Stephan U (SU); Lüders, Hans O (HO);

Affiliation: Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. s-schuele(-atsign-)northwestern.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Lancet neurology (Lancet Neurol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 7 (issue 6) : pp 514-24

Dates: Created 2008/05/19; Completed 2008/07/25;

PMID: 18485315, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.