Patients with Refractory Seizures

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Abstract
In the United States, epilepsy affects approximately 0.6 percent of the population (1.6 million persons) and has a lifetime prevalence of approximately 3 percent (and will thus affect 7.2 million persons).1 For the majority of patients, epileptic seizures are controlled with a single antiepileptic drug, which may be withdrawn when the patient has been without seizures for two years.2 Some patients, however, do not become completely free of seizures even though they comply scrupulously with the prescribed regimen. Aside from having deleterious effects on health, persistent epileptic seizures have psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive consequences and often impose a financial burden. . . .