Percival Bailey Oration. Surgical treatment of epilepsy during childhood and adolescence.

Seizures, being symptoms of pathophysiological abnormalities of the brain, require thorough investigations to ascertain localization of the epileptic discharge and determination of the underlying pathology in each patient. This approach makes possible appropriate medical or surgical therapy which will provide meaningful life and reduce the chances of progressive disability. Neurosurgical procedures currently being used to treat epileptic children and adolescents are described, and include temporal lobectomy, nontemporal cortical exisions, hemicorticectomy, commissurotomy, stereotaxic ablations, and cerebellar stimulations. The results of surgical therapy in 50 young patients are discussed.