Authors

  1. Section Editor(s): Kennedy, Maureen Shawn MA, RN

Article Content

Drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy patients may live longer after anterior temporal lobe resection than with medical management, concluded a December 3, 2008, report in JAMA. A simulation model incorporating seizure status, surgical complications, and patients' quality-of-life data indicated that surgery would confer an average increase in lifespan of five years, or 7.5 quality-adjusted life-years, as compared with medical therapy. The model predicted that after one year, 71.9% of postsurgery patients would have no disabling seizures (compared with 8% of patients taking medication) and less than a 6% chance of relapse per year (compared with a 25.4% chance of relapse in patients taking medication). The American Academy of Neurology advises that not every nonresponder is a candidate for surgery; medical evaluation is necessary.