This article reviews the results of surgical treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy based on retrospective reviews: more recent surveys from 91 centers on the outcomes from the surgical treatment of epilepsy and preliminary data from the authors' institution's 5-year retrospective review of nearly 100 surgical patients matched to medically treated epileptics. Surgical outcomes from resections in other areas, including extratemporal resections, and the efficacy of lesionectomy versus epilepsy surgery for structural lesions are detailed elsewhere in this issue.