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History of surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy
Ali A Asadi-Pooya1, Cyrus Rostami2
1Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA; Neurosciences Research Center, Shiraz Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Abstract:
The history of epilepsy and its treatment goes back to ancient times when it included medicinal herbs, lifestyle modifications, and even surgery. Trepanation is considered the oldest surgical procedure for the treatment of epilepsy. The first series of temporal lobectomies for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy were reported by Penfield and Flanigin (1950). During the years since then, neuroimaging and other technologies have had remarkable and revolutionary progress. This progress has resulted in tremendous advancements in understanding the underlying causes and pathophysiology of epilepsies. With the help of these technologies and advancements, we may now offer surgery as a safer therapeutic option to more patients who are suffering from drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy. However, the degree of improvement in surgery outcome has not been proportionate to the technological progress.