Paper 1 –

Surgery for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy in Children

Neurosurgical treatment may improve seizures in children and adolescents with drug-resistant epilepsy, but additional data are needed from randomized trials.

In this single-center trial, children and adolescents with drug-resistant epilepsy who had undergone epilepsy surgery had a significantly higher rate of freedom from seizures and better scores with respect to behavior and quality of life than did those who continued medical therapy alone at 12 months. Surgery resulted in anticipated neurologic deficits related to the region of brain resection.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1615335

____________________________

Paper 2 –

Histopathological Findings in Brain Tissue Obtained during Epilepsy Surgery

Detailed neuropathological information on the structural brain lesions underlying seizures is valuable for understanding drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

In patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy requiring surgery, hippocampal sclerosis was the most common histopathological diagnosis among adults, and focal cortical dysplasia was the most common diagnosis among children. Tumors were the second most common lesion in both groups.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1703784