Project Description Narrative:
Approximately 11% of people in Wisconsin will develop a seizure at some point during their life; while 3% will go on to develop epilepsy. This project seeks to improve the overall health of epilepsy patients,
particularly children who are the future of our state. The study also has implications for mental health, injury prevention and stroke.
The total cost of epilepsy to the nation is approximated to be $12.5 billion dollars per year with the majority of dollars ($10.8 billion) spent on indirect costs, such as lost wages (Epilepsy Foundation of America:
Epilepsy: A Report to the Nation, 1999). However, the costs to the child are even more concerning, with 50% reporting cognitive difficulties or negative school performance. In fact, children with epilepsy tend to be at least a year behind the expected reading level (Epilepsy Foundation of America: Epilepsy: A Report to the Nation, 1999). Unfortunately, psychiatric illnesses such as depression and injuries sustained from multiple seizures are all too common co-morbidities.
Currently, physicians are only able to provide a medical or surgical cure to 60-65% of patients with epilepsy. The information gained through this study will not only expand the current knowledge of neocortical epilepsy (typical of pediatric patients, but poorly understood compared to temporal lobe epilepsy), but will also form the basis for a rational pharmacotherapeutic approach in the medical treatment of patients who continue to seize despite epilepsy surgery.
In addition, the project will afford researchers the opportunity to develop a technique which could provide intra-operative data defining the margins of resection, especially in patients with normal histology, that would not only improve clinical outcomes, but would also reduce the risk of complications, such as paralysis.