Jefferson Neurologist Shows Two-Thirds Reduction in Mortality Rate after Epilepsy Surgery

Abstract

Dr. Sperling and his colleagues Suzanne Barshow, Dr. Maromi Nei and Dr. Ali A. Asadi-Pooya reviewed 1,110 patients’ records to find that the mortality risk in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who underwent surgery is one-third of the mortality risk in the medication-only group of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. They attribute this reduction to the higher rate of seizure-freedom as well as the lower proportion of tonicclonic seizures in those who continued seizures after surgery.