Can surgery cure epilepsy?
Yes. For many patients with persistent epileptic seizures, brain surgery can be a cure. Through video-EEG monitoring that we conduct while patients are admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU), we are better able to make a correct diagnosis and localize the area of a patient’s brain that may need to be removed to cure epilepsy. Some of our patients have suffered seizures since childhood. Others have started their seizure activity as adults. Regardless of when they started to have seizures, we would admit them to the epilepsy monitoring unit. Through specialized monitoring and a PET scan, in some cases, we would be able to identify the exact location of the abnormalities in the brain and locate the portion of the brain that could be operable. About 25 percent of those evaluated in the EMU are potential candidates for surgery, which can be successful 65 to 90 percent of the time. Patients are usually thrilled about getting a new lease on life and doing things that they were unable
