Epilepsy and Brain Tumors: Implications for Treatment

Summary: Primary intraparenchymal tumors of the brain are important etiologic factors in partial or focal epilepsy. Indolent low‐grade gliomas may be associated with a long‐standing seizure disorder refractory to medical treatment. Surgical resection of the neoplasm and the epileptogenic area may render patients seizure‐free. Removal of the tumor alone may also be associated with an excellent survival rate and surgical outcome. Conventional neurosurgical procedures are restricted in patients with tumors that are deep‐seated lesions or involve functional cerebral cortex. Computer‐assisted stereotactic surgical procedures have been developed for biopsy and resection of intra‐axial brain‐mass lesions. Stereotactic tumor resection may allow pathological determination of intracranial lesions and produce a worthwhile reduction in seizure activity in some patients with intractable partial epilepsy.