Mortality rates are increased among people with epilepsy, and may be highest in those with uncontrolled seizures. Because epilepsy surgery eliminates seizures in some people, we used an epilepsy surgery population to examine how seizure control influences mortality. We tested the hypothesis that patients with complete seizure relief after surgery would have a lower mortality rate than those who had persistent seizures. Three hundred ninety‐three patients who had epilepsy surgery between January 1986 and January 1996 were followed after surgery to assess long‐term survival; 347 had focal resection or transection, and 46 had anterior or complete corpus callosotomy. A multivariate survival analysis was performed, contrasting survival in those who had seizure recurrence with survival of those who remained seizure free. Standardized mortality ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Overall, seizure‐free patients had a lower mortality rate than those with persistent seizures. This was true for the subset of patients with localized resection or multiple subpial transection. No patients died among 199 with no seizure recurrence, whereas of 194 patients with seizure recurrence, 11 died. Six of the deaths were sudden and unexplained. Most patients who died had a substantial reduction in postoperative seizure frequency. The standardized mortality ratio for patients with recurrent seizures was 4.69, and the risk of death in these patients was 1.37 in 100 person‐years, whereas among patients who became seizure free, there was no difference in mortality rate compared with the age‐ and sex‐matched population of the United States. Elimination of seizures after surgery reduces mortality rates in people with epilepsy to a level indistinguishable from that of the general population, whereas patients with recurrent seizures continue to suffer from high mortality rates. This suggests that uncontrolled seizures are a major risk factor for excess mortality in epilepsy. Achieving complete seizure control with epilepsy surgery in refractory patients reduces the risk of death, so the long‐term risk of continuing medical treatment appears to be higher than the risk of epilepsy surgery in suitable candidates. Ann Neurol 1999;46:45–50

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These results are consistent with a protective effect of ketorolac against MI. Future research that implements uniform screening for and independent validation of MIs as well as eliminates possible confounding by indication is the next logical step in confirming these findings.

Numerous factors, environmental and others, have had an important influence on the scope and intensity of crime. To understand more fully the nature of crime in the state of New Jersey, the Office of the Attorney General recorded [1, pp. 11–28] a revised section entitled “Profiles of Incorporated Municipalities in New Jersey” in its Uniform Crime Reports of 1971. These profiles included the following factors: areas of population; density rates; population growth; urban, suburban, and rural characterizations; given land areas; and industrial populations. Even though these factors are out of police control, they can affect the crime rate, which can vary from town to town. It also is of interest that since the effects of these factors cannot be easily determined more aggressive research has not been conducted in attempts to decrease state and national crime rates. In New Jersey, during the calendar year 1971, a total of 224 709 crime index offenses were reported to state law enforcement agencies. This was a 14% increase in crime volume over 1970 and a 61% increase compared with the five-year period between 1967 and 1971. The crime index offenses referred to here represent the most common problems to law enforcement and the municipality. They include such violent crimes as atrocious assault, forcible rape, murder, and robbery, and such nonviolent crimes as auto theft, breaking and entering, and larceny of $50 and over in value.