[Surgical pathology of epilepsy].
BACKGROUND
The surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy represents a large step forward in the quality of life and survival of many patients, particularly for those whose pathology is located in the temporal lobe.


OBJECTIVE
To concentrate the basic histological aspects of an extremely varied, although generally little known, genuinely neural pathology into one single review work.


METHODS
The causes of refractory epilepsy with a genuinely neurohistological foundation can be either malformative or neoplastic. The former include cortical dysplasias and hippocampal sclerosis, while the latter involve the so-called glioneuronal tumours (dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour, ganglioglioma) and some glial cell-related tumours.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a group of disorders that are intrinsic to cerebral development and primary brain tumours which are closely related to epilepsy. Surgery applied to these processes cures epilepsy in a high percentage of cases that are resistant to pharmacological treatment.
López
José Ignacio
JI
Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Universitario de Cruces, Universidad del País Vasco, Baracaldo, Vizcaya, España. joseignacio.lopez@osakidetza.net
Pomposo-Gaztelu
Iñigo
I
D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018303:Ganglioglioma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D018242:Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011788:Quality of Life; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013724:Teratoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome