Q&A With Carl Bazil, MD, PhD, FAAN of Columbia University: When is Surgery the Best Treatment for Epilepsy?

When medication is not enough to treat epilepsy sometimes surgery can be a good choice for treatment. While the more common methods are also invasive in many ways there are newer procedures being developed that require less recovery time.

Carl Bazil, MD, PhD, FAAN, from Columbia University discussed how surgical options have changed over the years and what that could mean for future treatment during the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting Washington DC. Bazil said that rather than full craniotomies surgeons can now use small holes in the skull to target more specific areas of the brain. While these techniques are still being fine tuned they show promise for the future of patient care.