Surgical Treatment of Epilepsy with Bilateral MRI Abnormalities

To investigate the surgical outcomes of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and bilateral brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities who had undergone various epilepsy surgeries.

Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and bilateral brain abnormalities on MRI who underwent epilepsy surgery at the Severance Children's Hospital between October 2003 and December 2021 were included. The age of seizure onset was 18 years or younger. Engel's classification was used to assess seizure outcomes at 1, 2, and 5 years after surgery.

A total of 40 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age at surgery was 10.9 years (interquartile range [IQR] 6.9-15.1); the median interval to surgery was 7.1 years (IQR 2.7-11.5). One year after surgery, a favorable outcome of Engel class I-II was observed in 53% (21/40) of patients. At the 2- and 5-year follow-ups, 56% (20/36) and 63% (17/27) of patients showed good postoperative outcomes, respectively.

Approximately, half of the patients with bilateral brain MRI abnormalities achieved seizure freedom after epilepsy surgery. The existence of bilateral brain MRI abnormalities should not hinder resective epilepsy surgery.