Surgical treatment for epilepsy.

Surgical treatment for epilepsy remains highly underutilized: in the United States, there has been no increase in the number of surgical procedures performed annually since 19901; for most patients referred, the average duration of epilepsy is 22 years2; and there has been no change in this delay to surgery3, despite two randomized controlled trials4, 5 and an American Academy of Neurology practice parameter that recommended surgery as the treatment of choice for medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy6. This session addressed issues relevant to increasing the availability of epilepsy surgery, particularly in countries with limited resources.