Expert Available to Comment on Epilepsy Surgery "Treatment of Last Resort"

Orrin Devinsky, MD, an expert in epilepsy and Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Medical Center is available to comment on the recent findings published in the February 25th issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Neurology. The findings were published by the American Academy of Neurology in association with the American Epilepsy Society and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

The analysis urges tens of thousands of patients nationwide and their doctors to consider surgery for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) as a viable and desirable alternative to medication rather than a treatment of last resort. MTLE is the most common form of epilepsy.

Dr. Devinsky is a Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. He directs the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, the Saint Barnabas Institute of Neurology, and Staten Island University Hospital's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

According to Dr. Devinsky, "Epilepsy surgery is one of the most effective but underutilized surgical procedures in the US. The effects of recurrent seizures and antiepileptic drugs are enormous, effecting the structure and function of the brain and enormously impacting quality of life. Surgical is an established therapy that can eliminate or dramatically reduce seizure frequency and severity as well as medication burden in a large number of patients. The challenges are to extend its envelope to more of the severely affected patients, but most importantly, to increase medical and public awareness of this procedure and its tremendous value."