Results of temporal lobectomy for the treatment of partial complex epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the third most common cause of neurologic disability. The disease carries a 15 prevalence and a 3.5% lifetime risk. Seventy percent of patients can achieve good seizure control with medication. The remaining 30%, some 360,000 people across the United States, have intractable epilepsy and would benefit from evaluation at an epilepsy specialty center where surgical intervention is an option. The following report reviews a series of 50 patients referred to the Arkansas Comprehensive Epilepsy Program for treatment of intractable complex partial epilepsy. In this series, we evaluate results of temporal lobectomy, commenting upon factors in the patients' histories which may influence their outcomes.