Shifting Paradigms and Modern Face of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery: Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy

About 30-40% of patients with epilepsy remain intractable to antiepileptic drugs with temporal lobe epilepsy being the most common cause of drug resistant seizures. Anterior Temporal Lobectomy (ATL) is considered to be the standard surgical treatment for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with reported long-term seizure free rates of 60-80% [1,2]. Yet epilepsy surgery continues to be underutilized, where only estimated 2% of potential patients undergo surgery annually [3]. Reasons for limited patient acceptance of temporal lobectomy include fear of mortality and acquiring permanent cognitive or language deficits.