Epilepsy Division
The division of epilepsy surgery offers medical students, residents and fellows the opportunity to participate in the treatment and research of seizure disorders through a multidisciplinary team approach.
Members of the division work collaboratively with experienced epileptologists, electroencephalographers, neuroradiologists, neuropsychologists and social workers.
The Epilepsy Center at the UC Neuroscience Institute provides assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients who have experienced medically intractable seizure disorders, with or without brain lesions, and embraces a wide range of clinical trials. A weekly epilepsy conference seeks a consensus of the most appropriate treatment for those who suffer from medically refractory epilepsy.
Residents are initially exposed to seizure disorders while rotating on the neurology service during PGY1. They gain subsequent experience with epilepsy surgery during their midlevel and senior years (PGY4-7).
The most common procedure performed is an anterior temporal lobectomy; other procedures include cortical excision, modified hemispherectomy, corpus callosum section, multiple subpial transections and vagus nerve stimulation.
Current clinical research studies include investigating (1) the phenomenon of secondary epileptogenesis in human and functional imaging study and (2) sophisticated neuropsychological evaluation to improve the localization of seizure foci.