Neuroendoscopy in Epilepsy Surgery

Abstract

Epilepsy surgery has constantly evolved in various fields of knowledge. Surgical criteria have shifted from standard procedures to individualized forms of treatment, depending on physiological tests and specific imagenology findings in an individual patient. New instruments and applications based upon older instruments have been described in the treatment of epilepsy surgery, including the use of endoscopes. Frequent indications of neuroendoscopy in epilepsy surgery have been mostly to assist in open procedures, particularly when fluid-filled spaces are present within the surgical field, such as cystic parasites, tumors, arachnoid, or other types of cysts. Other indications certainly include cases of temporal lobe epilepsy, where ventricular exploration precedes intraventricular electrode placing as a tool to localize epileptogenic zones. Although described several years ago, there has been a recent trend in performing endoscopy-assisted section of the corpus-callosum in patients with generalized seizures. As neurosurgical instruments and techniques continue their progress, endoscopy will be included more frequently as part of the armamentarium in epilepsy surgery.