title: Surgical strategies for pediatric epilepsy.
abstract: Pediatric epilepsy is a debilitating condition that impacts millions of patients throughout the world. Approximately 20-30% of children with recurrent seizures have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). For these patients, surgery offers the possibility of not just seizure freedom but significantly improved neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes. The spectrum of surgical options is vast, ranging from outpatient procedures such as vagus nerve stimulation to radical interventions including hemispherectomy. The thread connecting all of these interventions is a common goal-seizure freedom, an outcome that can be achieved safely and durably in a large proportion of patients. In this review, we discuss many of the most commonly performed surgical interventions and describe the indications, complications, and outcomes specific to each.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Primary Children's Hospital, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ; 2 Division of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Primary Children's Hospital, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ; 2 Division of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karsy
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Primary Children's Hospital, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ; 2 Division of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ducis
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, Primary Children's Hospital, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ; 2 Division of Neurosurgery, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bollo
keywords: Epilepsy surgery; pediatric epilepsy; seizure freedom