Surgical Management Of Intractable Epilepsy Research Articles

Craneotomía en el paciente consciente. Consideraciones en situaciones especiales

Awake craniotomy was the earliest surgical procedure known, and it has become fashionable again. In the past it was used for the surgical management of intractable epilepsy, but nowadays, its indications are increasing, and it is a widely recognized technique for the resection of mass lesions involving the eloquent cortex, and for deep brain stimulation. The procedure is safe, provides excellent results, and saves money and resources.The anesthesiologist should know the principles underlying neuroanesthesia, the technique of scalp blockade, and the sedation protocols, as well as feeling comfortable with advanced airway management. The main anesthetic aim is to keep patients cooperating when required (analgesia-based anesthesia).This review attempts to summarize the most recent evidence from the clinical literature, a long as the number of patients undergoing craniotomies in the awake state are increasing, specifically in the pediatric population.

Epilepsy surgery after treatment of pediatric malignant brain tumors

Epilepsy surgery is common in the face of benign brain tumors, but rarely for patients with a history of malignant brain tumors. Seizures are a common sequelae in survivors of malignant pediatric brain tumors. Medical management alone may not adequately treat epilepsy, including in this group. We report four cases of patients who previously underwent gross total resection, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy for successful treatment of malignant brain neoplasia, yet suffered from medically intractable seizures. All underwent surgery for treatment of epilepsy with extension of the original resection. Despite the aggressive primary treatment of the neoplasm, and the potential for diffuse cerebral insults, all benefited from focal surgical resection. Aggressive surgical management of intractable epilepsy can be considered in survivors of malignant brain tumors.

Surgical Management Of Porencephalic Cyst In Patients With Medically-Intractable Epilepsy

Objective: To detect the ability of surgical management of porencephalic cyst to control intractable epilepsy. Methods: Five patients diagnosed with porencephalic cyst causing epilepsy that could not be controlled with adequate dosing of three anti-epileptic drugs were included in the study. The study included four males and one female. The age of the patients ranged from 9 to 23 with a mean of 16.4 years. All patients were submitted to complete general and neurological examination, laboratory and radiological investigations as well as Electroencephalography (EEG). The radiological investigations included tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Craniotomy was done for all cases with uncapping of the cyst; removing all the gliotic tissues with or without fenestration of the cyst to the lateral ventricles. Cases were followed-up for six months postoperatively. Results: Most cases were under 20 years old. Etiology of the porencephalic cyst included trauma, congenital, vascular insult as well as infection. The cysts were located in the frontal, parietal and the temporal lobes. All patients benefited from the surgery, four cases (80%) discontinued or reduced the dose of anti-epileptic drugs and one had epilepsy controlled with three anti-epileptic drugs. Conclusion: Surgical management of intractable epilepsy in porencephalic cyst patients is a valuable method for controlling epilepsy and should be resorted to in all indicated patients.

Fluorescence and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Intraoperative Guidance in Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery

Introduction Epileptogenic lesions and their margins are often difficult to define intraoperatively. Optical spectroscopy, especially diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy, can characterize tissue in vivo. We hypothesize that optical spectroscopy can detect unique pathophysiological features of epileptogenic lesions and hence differentiate them from normal brain. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the in vivo optical and fluorescence characteristics of epileptogenic brain lesions (non-neoplastic) with those of normal brain. Methods Patients were recruited from those undergoing evaluation for surgical management of intractable epilepsy at Miami Children's Hospital. Fluoroscence and diffuse reflectance spectra were acquired from the brain using a fiberoptic spectroscopic system. Both static and dynamic spectral acquisition was performed; thus, the average and time dependent characteristics were assessed. Both hemo-dynamic and metabolic physiologic characteristics were retrieved from the spe...

Electrocorticographic high gamma activity versus electrical cortical stimulation mapping of naming

Subdural electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery have shown that functional activation is associated with event-related broadband gamma activity in a higher frequency range (>70 Hz) than previously studied in human scalp EEG. To investigate the utility of this high gamma activity (HGA) for mapping language cortex, we compared its neuroanatomical distribution with functional maps derived from electrical cortical stimulation (ECS), which remains the gold standard for predicting functional impairment after surgery for epilepsy, tumours or vascular malformations. Thirteen patients had undergone subdural electrode implantation for the surgical management of intractable epilepsy. Subdural ECoG signals were recorded while each patient verbally named sequentially presented line drawings of objects, and estimates of event-related HGA (80-100 Hz) were made at each recording site. Routine clinical ECS mapping used a subset of the same naming stimuli at each cortical site. If ECS disrupted mouth-related motor function, i.e. if it affected the mouth, lips or tongue, naming could not be tested with ECS at the same cortical site. Because naming during ECoG involved these muscles of articulation, the sensitivity and specificity of ECoG HGA were estimated relative to both ECS-induced impairments of naming and ECS disruption of mouth-related motor function. When these estimates were made separately for 12 electrode sites per patient (the average number with significant HGA), the specificity of ECoG HGA with respect to ECS was 78% for naming and 81% for mouth-related motor function, and equivalent sensitivities were 38% and 46%, respectively. When ECS maps of naming and mouth-related motor function were combined, the specificity and sensitivity of ECoG HGA with respect to ECS were 84% and 43%, respectively. This study indicates that event-related ECoG HGA during confrontation naming predicts ECS interference with naming and mouth-related motor function with good specificity but relatively low sensitivity. Its favourable specificity suggests that ECoG HGA can be used to construct a preliminary functional map that may help identify cortical sites of lower priority for ECS mapping. Passive recordings of ECoG gamma activity may be done simultaneously at all electrode sites without the risk of after-discharges associated with ECS mapping, which must be done sequentially at pairs of electrodes. We discuss the relative merits of these two functional mapping techniques.

Surgical management of intractable epilepsy associated with cerebral neurocytomay

Neuronal neoplasms of the CNS constitute a rarely encountered group of tumors. This report concerns the surgical management of seizures encountered in four cases (ranging from 2 to 10 years-of-age at onset; consisting of two males and two females) of a recently recognized morphologically unique tumor, called ‘cerebral neurocytoma’. All patients were associated solely with intractable complex partial seizures. The tumor involved the temporal lobe in two cases, and the frontal in two. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) clearly demonstrated an accumulation of equivalent current dipoles originating from the interictal spikes on the cortex around the tumor. On intra-operative electrocorticography (ECoG), the epileptogenic zone was topographically distinct from the region of the tumor. No definite ECoG activities were observed at the tumor site, although this tumor did consist of small mature neuronal cells. Either a complete or a subtotal resection of the tumor and the epileptogenic cortex was performed and, post-operatively, universal freedom from seizures was demonstrted in all patients. A histological examination of the epileptogenic cortex revealed the presence of minute cortical dysplasia or tumor involvement in the hippocampus. A resection of the epileptogenic cortex along with the tumor was thus found to improve the seizure outcome in patients with neurocytoma-associated epilepsy without inducing any identifiable neurological deficits attributable to the incremental resection. [Neurol Res 2000; 22: 449-456]

Surgical pathologic findings of extratemporal-based intractable epilepsy: a study of 133 consecutive resections.

c Background.—Surgical management of intractable epilepsy continues to be important in select cases to achieve seizure control. Design.—This study retrospectively reviews the pathologic findings in 133 consecutive cases of extratemporal lobe epilepsy experienced during a 17-year period. Results.—The study group consists of 133 patients (78 males) who underwent extratemporal lobe resection for epilepsy at a mean age of 21.1 years (range, 3 months to 57 years). In 50 patients (37.6%), cortical dysplasia (neuronal migration abnormalities) was identified. The most common patterns of dysplasia observed included diffuse architectural disorganization in 46 cases, neuronal cytomegaly in 30 cases, increased numbers of molecular layer neurons in 30 cases, and balloon cells in 18 cases. Tumors were identified in 37 cases (27.8%) and included 13 astrocytomas, 7 gangliogliomas, 6 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors, 6 glioneuronal hamartomas, 4 oligodendrogliomas, and 1 oligoastrocytoma (mixed glioma). Twenty-four resections (18%) showed evidence of remote ischemic damage or infarct. Neuronal heterotopia was identified in 59 resection specimens (44.4%). Other less common findings included vascular malformations in 4 patients (3.0%), Sturge-Weber malformations in 3 patients (2.3%), and Rasmussen encephalitis in 2 patients (1.5%). Two patients were known to have tuberous sclerosis. In 23 resection specimens (17.3%), no significant pathologic finding was identified. Coexistent cortical dysplasia and tumor were seen in 10 cases and coexistent dysplasia and infarct or remote ischemic damage in 11 cases. Conclusion.—This series demonstrates that most patients with extratemporal lobe epilepsy have significant histopathologic findings, which most frequently include cortical dysplasia, tumor, or evidence of remote ischemic damage or infarct. Coexistent pathologic findings were present in a significant minority of cases (16.5%). (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2000;124:545‐549)

Surgical pathologic findings of extratemporal-based intractable epilepsy: a study of 133 consecutive resections.

Surgical management of intractable epilepsy continues to be important in select cases to achieve seizure control. This study retrospectively reviews the pathologic findings in 133 consecutive cases of extratemporal lobe epilepsy experienced during a 17-year period. The study group consists of 133 patients (78 males) who underwent extratemporal lobe resection for epilepsy at a mean age of 21.1 years (range, 3 months to 57 years). In 50 patients (37.6%), cortical dysplasia (neuronal migration abnormalities) was identified. The most common patterns of dysplasia observed included diffuse architectural disorganization in 46 cases, neuronal cytomegaly in 30 cases, increased numbers of molecular layer neurons in 30 cases, and balloon cells in 18 cases. Tumors were identified in 37 cases (27.8%) and included 13 astrocytomas, 7 gangliogliomas, 6 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors, 6 glioneuronal hamartomas, 4 oligodendrogliomas, and 1 oligoastrocytoma (mixed glioma). Twenty-four resections (18%) showed evidence of remote ischemic damage or infarct. Neuronal heterotopia was identified in 59 resection specimens (44.4%). Other less common findings included vascular malformations in 4 patients (3.0%), Sturge-Weber malformations in 3 patients (2.3%), and Rasmussen encephalitis in 2 patients (1.5%). Two patients were known to have tuberous sclerosis. In 23 resection specimens (17.3%), no significant pathologic finding was identified. Coexistent cortical dysplasia and tumor were seen in 10 cases and coexistent dysplasia and infarct or remote ischemic damage in 11 cases. This series demonstrates that most patients with extratemporal lobe epilepsy have significant histopathologic findings, which most frequently include cortical dysplasia, tumor, or evidence of remote ischemic damage or infarct. Coexistent pathologic findings were present in a significant minority of cases (16.5%).

Epilepsy surgery in children and adolescents.

There has been a considerable increase in interest in the surgical management of intractable epilepsy in children. Better methods of diagnosis and improved knowledge of natural history and results of surgery have been major factors in this phenomenon. The results of surgery in 76 patients who were 19 years of age or younger are reported. Success rates, defined as no postoperative seizures with loss of consciousness (Engel Grades I and II) were 78% in 52 patients treated by temporal lobectomy, 75% in eight patients who had extratemporal resections, 80% in 10 children treated by hemispherectomy, and 33% in three patients treated by corpus callosotomy.

Surgical management of intractable epilepsy arising from central area

Surgical management of intractable epilepsy arising from central area

The surgical treatment of intractable childhood and adolescent epilepsy.

The approach to the surgical management of intractable epilepsy of the Adelaide Children's Hospital, and a method of anaesthesia allowing intraoperative electrocorticographic recordings, are described. Using this approach, the outcome of ablative neurosurgery in a heterogenous group of sixteen childhood and adolescent epileptics is presented. This group was characterized by poorly controlled seizure disorders and interictal behavioural abnormalities. Investigations suggested that all patients had focal epileptogenic lesions. Postoperative seizure control and psychosocial adjustment were improved in 13 (81%) and 12 (75%) patients respectively. The place for, and limitations of, antiepileptogenic surgery are discussed.