title: Treatment modalities for intractable epilepsy in hypothalamic hamartoma.
abstract: Hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) is usually associated with refractory epilepsy, cognitive impairment, and behavioral disturbance. There is now increasing evidence that HH can be treated effectively with a variety of neurosurgical approaches. Treatment options for intractable gelastic seizure in HH patients include direct open surgery with craniotomy, endoscopic surgery, radiosurgery with gamma knife (GKS) and stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation. Selection of treatment modalities depends on type and size of the HH and the surgeon's preference. Two surgical techniques, resection and disconnection, had been described with favorable outcomes. Pretreatment evaluation, patient selection, surgical techniques, complications, and possible selection of treatment are discussed in this chapter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, CHA University, Sungnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. juchoi@cha.ac.kr
authors.forename: Joong-Uhn
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Dong-Seok
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007027:Hypothalamic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D044583:Neuroendoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000379:methods*