About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
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 will 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.
- Smith ML, et al. Functional neurosurgery. In: Brunicardi FC, et al. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=5021050. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Epilepsy and other seizure disorders. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3632508&searchStr=epilepsy+surgery. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Special techniques for neurologic diagnosis. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=3630099. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm. Accessed March 8, 2010.
- Surgery types: Benefits and risks. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/benefitsrisks.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
- The operation. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/operation.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
- After the surgery: Planning ahead. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/planning.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on