Changes Of The Outcomes Of Epilepsy Surgery Within 10 Years In The National Institute Of Clinical Neurosciences, Hungary

Introduction and objective: The surgical treatment of medically intractable focal epilepsies is a well established practice. Our aim was to examine the efficacy of epilepsy surgery within a decade long period in our centre in Budapest. Methods: Data of drug-resistant patients with resective epilepsy surgery in the National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences were evaluated. The examined 10-year period was divided based on the year of the operation in two parts (2006-2010 and 2011-2016). The following data were collected: demography, beginning and type of epilepsy, magnetic resonance, preoperative seizure frequency, type of surgery and histology. Epileptological outcome was based on modified Engel's classification.Results: Out of 187 surgeries, we identified 137 patients with resective intervention: 65% temporal lobe, 18% frontal, and 7% multilobar epilepsy. Seizure-freedom (Engel I/A) was 68% in the first postoperative year, 64% in the second, and 63% in the fifth year. In the first period, 1-year seizure freedom was 60% (temporal: 67% extratemporal: 50%), while in the second period it was 73% (temporal 79%, extratemporal 62%). Hippocampal sclerosis ratio dropped from 28% to 14%, while focal cortical dysplasia ratio increased from 22% to 31%.Conclusion: Surgical treatment in focal epilepsy - after thorough presurgical evaluation - is generally safe and successful. The most favorable outcome is in temporal localization. The efficacy tended to improve over time despite of the more challenging cases. This can be explained with the development of surgical techniques and improvement of presurgical localization.