Pharmacoresistant

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting between 0.5% and 1% of the general population. Therefore, new diagnostic and treatment methods are having a big impact on society. Epilepsy is also one of the most commonly diagnosed pediatric neurological disorders, with long-term implications for the quality of life of those affected and their relatives. In only two-thirds of cases, seizures can be adequately controlled with anticonvulsant drug therapy. For other patients with a drug-resistant focal epilepsy (up to around 2 million in Europe) epilepsy surgery is currently the most effective treatment. However, only 15-20% of these drug-resistant patients are eligible for epilepsy surgery. This is either because the cortical epileptogenic zone cannot be localized with sufficient precision with standard diagnostic means, or because the epileptogenic zone overlaps meaningful cortical areas, so that it cannot be surgically removed without considerable neurological deficit.