Adult Epilepsy

Overview

The UCLA Adult Epilepsy Program has offered surgical treatment of epilepsy for more than 30 years.
The success of epilepsy surgery depends on a detailed and accurate evaluation prior to surgery, an evaluation that can only be carried out at an established epilepsy surgery center, such as Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Surgery is a well-established approach to treating epilepsy; nevertheless, it remains an underutilized treatment in this country.
Of the 2.5 million patients in the United States with epilepsy, 250,000 are potential candidates for surgery, and each year there are 5,000 new potential surgical candidates. Yet the number of epilepsy patients choofsing surgical treatment totaled just 500 in 1986 and 1,500 in 1991.
Despite the potential benefits of surgery, many candidates who could benefit from surgery are not referred because patients and doctors are unaware of the option for those whose seizures are not controlled by medications.
At UCLA the success rate for temporal lobe surgery is more than 70 percent seizure-free. For those with tumors the success rate is 80 percent, and for other locations the rate is somewhat lower.

At UCLA the Adult Epilepsy Surgery Program is affiliated with the Seizure Disorder Center, and the combined program is recognized as a leader worldwide, having pioneered many of the innovations in epilepsy evaluation and surgical treatment.
Our multi disciplinary team of doctors and other professionals, specializing in epilepsy, focuses on evaluating and treating people with seizures using the most modern techniques available.
Each patient undergoes a multi-step diagnostic regimen designed to determine the location of the seizure focus and the most beneficial surgical plan.