A minimally invasive procedure to determine whether patients with drug-resistant epilepsy are candidates for brain surgery is safer, more efficient, and leads to better outcomes than the traditional method, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The study, published this week in JAMA Neurology, revealed that patients who had the minimally invasive evaluation procedure experienced fewer complications, and those who went on to have brain surgery were more likely to be seizure-free than patients who had the more invasive evaluation procedure.
“We expected the results to show patients who had the minimally invasive procedure to have a more favorable experience. But we also found those patients who had the new evaluation procedure, and then underwent surgery, had significantly more positive outcomes, which was quite surprising,” said lead author Nitin Tandon, MD, professor in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “The findings give new hope to epilepsy patients who may previously have ruled out surgery for various reasons.”