Surgical treatment of epilepsy is a safe and effective approach to controlling seizures, but medical therapy remains the primary treatment for patients with epilepsy. A new 26-year study reveals that nearly half of patients with epilepsy treated surgically were free of survival disorder epilepsy; 80% of patients achieved a better quality of life after surgery compared to before surgery. The results of this longest-running study have been published in the journal Epilepsy, sponsored by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and published by the Wiley-Blackwell Group. According to a 2001 World Health Organization report, more than 50 million people worldwide are afflicted with seizures caused by epilepsy. Medical evidence shows that people with epilepsy have lower health-related quality of life, higher rates of co-occurring other disorders and unemployment, and lower odds of finding a spouse and lower levels of education compared to normal individuals. Previous studies have shown that while most people with epilepsy respond to medication, 30 percent of people with epilepsy respond poorly to medication. “Once medical treatment fails to control seizures, surgical treatment is a safe and effective option,” explained the study’s leader, Matthew Smyth, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, “although the number of epilepsy surgeries performed and compared to medical literature reports of successful surgical treatment compared to medical treatment are increasing, seizure control through surgery remains underutilized.” A 2001 study concluded that of the more than 4 million patients with epilepsy worldwide who could benefit from surgical treatment, less than 1 in 1,000 patients received surgical treatment. To learn more about long-term seizure control rates, researchers analyzed the seizure profiles and quality of life of 361 patients treated surgically from 1967 to 1990; Sidney Goldring, MD, a leading neurosurgeon and pioneer in the surgical treatment of epilepsy, conducted the study. A patient survey was conducted to assess seizure control and quality of life. Of the 361 patients, 117 completed the follow-up survey, 48% of whom did not have survival-impairing epilepsy. In the survey ratings regarding quality of life during the procedure, 80% of the patients felt that their quality of life was higher than before surgery. As expected by the authors, complications of surgical treatment and mortality due to surgery decreased with time. There was no statistical correlation between postoperative complications and long-term seizure control and quality of life. “Our findings demonstrate that the benefits of surgical treatment of epilepsy persist over time,” Smyth concluded, “and that surgical treatment offers patients with epilepsy a promising approach to long-term seizure control and improved quality of life.”