Experimental and clinical studies on the putative therapeutic efficacy of cerebral irradiation (radiotherapy) in epilepsy.
1. The majority of the published literature on the radiotherapeutic treatment of epilepsy suffers because it has involved neither radiotherapists nor epileptologists. 2. Papers have either been written describing an incidental beneficial effect (these suffer from being retrospective analyses) or by enthusiasts (where one must question patient selection). In addition there are a small number of very detailed and useful individual case reports. 3. Despite the reservations it would appear that radiation can have beneficial effects on seizures, and this effect has been described for a wide variety of conditions using a wide variety of treatment modalities. 4. There are grounds for prospective clinical trials to test the putative therapeutic efficacy of cerebral irradiation. However, it is essential that these are carried out by a group involving an established epilepsy surgery programme and a radiotherapy department conversant with the complex issues involved in focussed radiation treatment.
Kitchen
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Department of Neurological Surgery, Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002415:Cats; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D016634:Radiosurgery; D011878:Radiotherapy; D051381:Rats; D016896:Treatment Outcome