Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Epilepsy

Does access to care influence the use of epilepsy surgery?

Epilepsy surgery is the standard of care for focal drug-resistant epilepsy, but it is underutilized. Knowledge gaps and attitudes toward epilepsy surgery are partly responsible, and a new study explores whether the health-care infrastructure in developed countries influences access to and utilization of epilepsy surgery.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Engel, J. Jr et al. Early surgical therapy for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy: a randomized trial. JAMA 307, 922–930 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Wiebe, S., Blume, W. T., Girvin, J. P. & Eliasziw, M. A randomized, controlled trial of surgery for temporal-lobe epilepsy. N. Engl. J. Med. 345, 311–318 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Choi, H. et al. Epilepsy surgery for pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy: a decision analysis. JAMA 300, 2497–2505 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Engel, J. Jr et al. Practice parameter: temporal lobe and localized neocortical resections for epilepsy: report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology, in association with the American Epilepsy Society and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Neurology 60, 538–547 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Berg, A. T. Understanding the delay before epilepsy surgery: who develops intractable focal epilepsy and when? CNS Spectr. 9, 136–144 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Haneef, Z., Stern, J., Dewar, S. & Engel, J. Jr. Referral pattern for epilepsy surgery after evidence-based recommendations: a retrospective study. Neurology 75, 699–704 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Burneo, J. G. et al. Disparities in surgery among patients with intractable epilepsy in a universal health system. Neurology 86, 72–78 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Berg, A. T. et al. How long does it take for partial epilepsy to become intractable? Neurology 60, 186–190 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Roberts, J. I. et al. Neurologists' knowledge of and attitudes toward epilepsy surgery: a national survey. Neurology 84, 159–166 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

S.W. is supported by the Hopewell Professorship of Clinical Neurosciences Research at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samuel Wiebe.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Related links

Related links

FURTHER INFORMATION

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Epilepsies: diagnosis and management

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wiebe, S. Does access to care influence the use of epilepsy surgery?. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 133–134 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.7

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing