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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffEpilepsy surgery is a procedure that either removes or isolates the area of your brain where your seizures originate. If the section of your brain where your seizures begin is too vital to remove, your surgeon can make a series of incisions that prevent your seizures from spreading to the rest of your brain.
Epilepsy surgery works best for people who have seizures that always originate in the same place in their brains. To be considered for epilepsy surgery, you must have tried at least two anti-seizure drugs without success. If two appropriate drugs have failed, it is highly unlikely that any other anti-epileptic drug will help you.
- Brunicardi FC, ed., et al. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=50. Accessed Sept. 19, 2012.
- Ropper AH, et al. Adams & Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=54. Accessed Sept. 19, 2012.
- Rowland LP. Merritt's Neurology. 12th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010. http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&PAGE=main&D=baov&PCOSTART=merritt. Accessed Sept. 19, 2012.
- Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm. Accessed Sept. 19, 2012.
- Surgery. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/aboutepilepsy/treatment/surgery/index.cfm. Accessed Sept. 19, 2012.
- Engle J, et al. Early surgical therapy for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2012;307:922.
- Wirrell EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept 27, 2012.
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