Laser ablation as treatment strategy for medically refractory dominant insular epilepsy: Therapeutic and functional considerations

Since its introduction to neurosurgery in 2008, laser ablative techniques have been largely confined to the management of unresectable tumors. Application of this technology for the management of focal epilepsy in the adult population has not been fully explored. Given that nearly 1,000,000 Americans live with medically refractory epilepsy and current surgical techniques only address a fraction of epileptic pathologies, additional therapeutic options are needed. We report the successful treatment of dominant insular epilepsy in a 53-year-old male with minimally invasive laser ablation complicated by mild verbal and memory deficits. We also report neuropsychological test data on this patient before surgery and at 8 months after the ablation procedure. This account represents the first reported successful patient outcome of laser ablation as an effective treatment option for medically refractory post-stroke epilepsy in an adult.