title: Long-term outcomes in patients after epilepsy surgery failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to analyze the long-term outcomes of patients who were classified as Engel IV one year after resective epilepsy surgery. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatment options and to examine the reasons that the patients did not undergo resective reoperation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study was designed as a retrospective open-label investigation of the long-term outcomes of 34 patients (12% of all surgically treated patients) who were classified as Engel IV one year after epilepsy surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the last follow-up visit (average of 7.6 ± 4.2 years after surgery), 12 of the 34 examined patients (35.3%) were still classified as Engel IV; 22 of the 34 patients (64.7%) were improved (Engel I-III). Of the 34 patients, 8 (23.5%) achieved an excellent outcome, classified as Engel I, 3 patients (8.8%) were classified as Engel II, and 11 patients (32.4%) as Engel III. The seizure outcome in the patients classified as Engel I was achieved by resective reoperation in 4; by a change in antiepileptic medication in 3 patients; and by vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in 1 patient. The seizure outcome of Engel II was achieved by a change in antiepileptic medication in all 3 patients. Of the 34 patients, a total of 6 (17.6%) underwent resective reoperation only. The major reasons for this were the absence of a plausible hypothesis for invasive re-evaluation, the risk of postoperative deficit, and multifocal epilepsy in the rest of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the reoperation rate was relatively low in our series, we can achieve better or even excellent seizure outcomes using other procedures in patients for whom resective surgery initially failed.
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Child Neurology, Brno University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Černopolní 9, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: mryzi@fnbrno.cz.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryzí
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: milan.brazdil@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brázdil
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: zdenek.novak@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Zdeněk
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Novák
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic. Electronic address: jan.hemza@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hemza
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: jan.chrastina@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chrastina
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Child Neurology, Brno University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Černopolní 9, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: hoslej@fnbrno.cz.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ošlejšková
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: ivan.rektor@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rektor
authors.affiliation: Brno Epilepsy Center, Department of Child Neurology, Brno University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Černopolní 9, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic; Brno Epilepsy Center, First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, Brno 656 91, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic. Electronic address: robert.kuba@fnusa.cz.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012640:Seizures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017211:Treatment Failure; D055536:Vagus Nerve Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Epilepsy surgery; Failure; Reoperation; Treatment options; Vagus nerve stimulation