When Should a Patient Be Referred for Epilepsy Surgery Evaluation?

Evidence suggests that the low rate of referral for epilepsy surgery evaluation is in part caused by clinicians' doubts about patient eligibility. To improve the rate of appropriate referrals, researchers have now developed and tested a Web-based decision-making tool.

A clinician panel that included epilepsy specialists and general neurologists surveyed the literature to identify eligibility criteria for entrance into epilepsy surgery studies, which they used to create a systematic, stepwise decision-making tool. The criteria were based on magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography findings, frequency of disabling seizures, presence of adverse effects related to antiepileptic drug (AED) use, and number of AEDs tried. The panel the…