• Iahn Cajigas, Andres M Kanner, Ramses Ribot, Amanda M Casabella, Anil Mahavadi, Walter Jermakowicz, Samir Sur, Carlos Millan, Anita Saporta, Merredith Lowe, Naymee Velez-Ruiz, Gustavo Rey, George M Ibrahim, Michael E Ivan, and Jonathan R Jagid.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Jun 1; 126: e1121-e1129.

BackgroundLaser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) presents an important new minimally invasive tool in the management of drug-resistant mesial temporal epilepsy (MTE). However, because of its relative novelty, not much is known about long-term seizure freedom rates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the postsurgical seizure outcome following LITT after a minimum follow-up period of 2 years.MethodsMedical records of all patients who underwent LITT for MTE from 2013 to 2018 at our comprehensive epilepsy center under a single surgeon were retrospectively reviewed. Data related to demographics, presurgical evaluations, and seizure outcome were compared between seizure-free (SF) and non-seizure-free (NSF) patients.ResultsIn all, 26 patients were identified with at least 2 years of follow-up. Mean age was 43.8 years ± 11.6 years, and 46.2% were female. After a mean follow-up time of 42.9 months (range, 24.3-58.8 months), 61.5% (16/26) were free of disabling seizures, and 26.9% (7/26) had only rare disabling seizures. Whereas seizure-freedom rates between patients with and without mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) were not statistically different (68% vs. 43%, P = 0.23), NSF patients without MTS had a shorter median time to first seizure than did NSF patients with MTS (0.55 month vs. 10 months, log-rank test P = 0.007). Postoperative complications occurred in 2 patients (7.7%), consisting of 1 permanent and 1 transient homonymous hemianopia.ConclusionsLITT appears to be a safe and effective initial surgical option for treatment-resistant MTE. Among patients who have seizures after treatment, those without MTS appear to have seizures earlier than those with MTS.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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