Epilepsy: A Call for Help.

Venkatraman Sadanand

doi:10.3390/brainsci8020022

Abstract

Epilepsy is a considerable individual and social economic burden. In properly selected patients, epilepsy surgery can provide significant relief from disease, including remission. However, the surgical treatment of epilepsy lags in terms of knowledge and technology. The problem arises due to its slow adaptation and dissemination. This article explores this issue of a wide treatment gap and its causes. It develops a framework for a rational decision-making process that is appropriate for extant circumstances and will result in the speedy delivery of surgical care for suitable patients with medically intractable epilepsy.

Highlights

Epilepsy is known to be a devastating disease for the patient and for the patient’s family and for society
The underlying problem explored in this chapter is best described by Table 1, where the two diseases are compared: glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and surgical epilepsy (SE)
Since every player functions under some degree of uncertainty about the other players’ motives and moves, the final action of each stakeholder is dictated by what is known as Bayesian expected utility and interactive equilibrium [29]

Summary

Introduction

Epilepsy is known to be a devastating disease for the patient and for the patient’s family and for society. Market analysis, individual behavior analysis, group dynamics, and military decision-making have all abandoned the previous naïve models of dynamic programming with fixed incentive for players Instead these models have evolved to game theory. This shift from fixed incentives-based interactions to a dynamic interaction of multiple players with diverse objectives who think through others’ thought processes and adjust on the go is the very basis of a complex mathematical analysis leading to the Nobel Prize in Economics in. This paper deviates from existing literature and advocates the use of game theory for medical decision-making and considers the techniques of static and dynamic programming with fixed incentives as a source of misleading results and not a model of real behavior. Amid paucity, the creation of epilepsy centers of excellence can be Pareto optimal

Problem Definition

Decision Analysis

Conclusions