Epilepsy surgery in tuberous sclerosis: a review

Seizures are the initial manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) in 90% of individuals. The prevalence of epilepsy in TSC is 80%-90% with a large proportion refractory to antiepileptic drugs. A review of the literature of epilepsy surgery in TSC demonstrates impressive success rates for seizure-free outcomes. These studies describe a number of novel noninvasive methods for seizure localization including PET, SPECT, and magnetoencephalography. Additionally, there is a subset of patients with TSC with bilateral, multifocal, or generalized epileptiform discharges that would have previously been excluded from resection. New developments in neuroimaging and invasive monitoring with intracranial electrodes are useful methods in identifying an epileptogenic tuber in these individuals with refractory epilepsy. The authors offer a survey of the literature and description of these methods. Additionally they present an illustrative case of ictal SPECT and intracranial electroencephalography used in the preoperative evaluation of a 10-year-old girl with intractable seizures and TSC. This patient ultimately underwent resection of an epileptogenic region within the occipital lobe. (http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2012.1.FOCUS11330)