Surgical Treatment
Epilepsy surgery is undertaken at the Department of General Neurosurgery of the Neurocentre. Considerable experience with the complete range of surgical forms of intervention has been collected. In the following, the surgical procedures are considered individually.
1. Temporal Lobectomy/Topectomy
Removal of the temporal lobe or of specific areas by a lateral site of entry. This can be carried out in conjunction with a Amygdalohippocampectomy
2. Selective Amygdalohippocampectomy
Exclusive removal of epileptogenic temporomesial areas by a transsylvian site of entry
3. Extratemporal Lobectomy/Topectomy
Removal of a lobe on the brain or a specific resection of the epileptogenic zone within the lobe
4. Multilobectomy
Resection of specific alterations in several brain lobes
5. Multiple subpiale Transsections
Transection of horizontal nerve fibre connections (needed to spread seizure) while maintaining the vertical connections (responsible for the function)
6. Hemispherectomy/ Hemispherotomy
Disconnection of the diseased (epileptogenic) hemisphere
7. Callostomy
Palliative procedure that hinders the spread of the epileptic event from the one to the other hemisphere by transection of the corpus callosum
10. Implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator
Neurostimulatory treatment to avoid spread of epileptic activity across the brain. Modern devices allow for a stepped and individualized programming of neurostimulation pulses.