PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lachhwani, Redeepak
AU  - Lüders, Hans
TI  - In refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, consider surgery sooner
DP  - 2003 Jul 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 649--653
VI  - 70
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/70/7/649.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/70/7/649.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2003 Jul 01; 70
AB  - Despite evidence that surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy is safe and effective, physicians continue to view it as a last resort in people who do not respond to medical therapy. A randomized study in Canada has demonstrated significantly higher rates of freedom from seizures in patients who underwent surgery rather than medical therapy. If we wait too long to rule a patient’s epilepsy medically refractory, we increase the patient’s risk of morbidity and death, and we miss a window of opportunity to eliminate seizures and permit the patient a full and productive life.