Weighing Epilepsy Surgery as a Potential Treatment Option for Patients: Scott Perry, MD

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“We’re never going to know how effective it is going to be if we’re not doing it. There are some patients that have undergone surgery and are doing very well. So, it does happen. You just have to figure out who those patients are. We're not going to figure that out if we're constantly saying that there are some contraindications to evaluating them.”

The eligibility for patients to opt for epilepsy surgery as a means to effectively control seizures has improved in recent years; however, there are still gaps in the amount of knowledge regarding specific populations who may receive the greatest benefit from the procedure.

Scott Perry, MD, an attendee from the 2022 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting, held December 2 to 6, in Nashville, Tennessee, sat down with NeurologyLive^® for an interview to discuss the biggest unknowns with epilepsy surgery, the debates surrounding when it a good option versus not, and what the goal of the surgery is for the patient.

Perry, head of neurosciences at the Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center of Cook Children’s Medical Center, talked about the effectiveness of surgery and the possibility of conducting future studies on epileptic subgroups to identify best potential candidates. He spoke on the areas of conversation in epilepsy surgery that do not garner enough attention, as well as the timing of surgery, comparing younger patients that face their first seizure with older patients.

Click here for more coverage of AES 2022.