Surgical treatments for epilepsy- so much more than resection

ICNC2024
Symposia: Epilepsy Care In Children: What To do When Medications Aren't Working

Surgical treatments for epilepsy- so much more than resection
D Keith Starnes

Focal resection or disconnection is used to treated refractory focal epilepsy, but not all patients are candidates. Use of neuromodulation is rapidly expanding. Neuromodulation uses targeted electrical impulses to alter neuronal activity. While not typically associated with seizure freedom, some neuromodulation modalities result in approximately 2/3 reduction in seizure frequency and significantly improve quality of life. Neuromodulation is more than just vagal nerve stimulator – and is not only for focal epilepsy. Devices like responsive neurostimulation and deep brain stimulation are expanding into the pediatric population. New modalities like continuous cortical stimulation and noninvasive techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct/alternating current stimulation, and focused ultrasound are on the horizon.This talk will review the recent data on these technologies and the challenges of using them for pediatric epilepsy. Patient selection, stimulation targeting, and parameter optimization will be considered. Finally, we will look at how neurostimulation might guide epilepsy therapy in the future, as well as how we can clear the hurdles to making these technologies more accessible.

Other Lectures in this symposium
How to choose the most effective medication for your patient with epilepsy