Noninvasive investigations are essential tools for epilepsy surgery in developing countries: Extrapolating results from Chinese studies

Epilepsy surgery in a developing country (Lebanon): ten years experience and predictors of outcome

“…Mikati, et al intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (Engel et al, 2003). Despite increasing reports from Asia and Africa, this therapy remains much less available in developing countries, compared to developed countries (Wylie et al, 1998;Salanova et al, 1999;Williamson and Jobst, 2000;Mikati et al, 2004;Chaudhry et al, 2010;Mrabet khiari et al, 2010;Chang and Huang, 2011;Jayalakshmi et al, 2011). Epilepsy affects approximately 50 million people in the world, of whom 80% are in the developing world and of these, 80-90% receive no treatment at all (World Health Organization, 2005).…”

“…In these countries, epilepsy surgery was shown to be a cost-effective procedure when surgery candidates were properly identified and evaluated (Darazi and Mikati, 1997;Rao and Radhakrishnan, 2000), however, resources are limited for the majority of patients with refractory epilepsy (Asadi-Pooya and Sperling, 2008). Studies on epilepsy surgery in developing countries are scarce and strategies for the development of surgical treatment of patients with epilepsy in developing countries are needed (Asadi-Pooya and Sperling, 2008;Mikati et al, 2008a;Boling et al, 2009;Malekpour and Sharifi, 2009;Mrabet Khiari et al, 2010;Chang and Huang, 2011;Jayalakshmi et al, 2011). The Adult and Pediatric Epilepsy Program at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) was launched in 1995.…”

“…In 2003, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) issued a practice parameter that recommended epilepsy surgery for the treatment of medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (Engel et al , 2003). Despite increasing reports from Asia and Africa, this therapy remains much less available in developing countries, compared to developed countries (Wylie et al , 1998; Salanova et al , 1999; Williamson and Jobst, 2000; Mikati et al , 2004; Chaudhry et al, 2010; Mrabet khiari et al, 2010; Chang and Huang, 2011; Jayalakshmi et al, 2011).…”