Deep Brain Stimulation in Intractable Epilepsy: Proposed Advancements and Future Hope

Epilepsy is one of the oldest and commonest neurological diseases and presently considered a common global problem. The prevalence of epilepsy is estimated to be one in hundred in the general population with a distinctly higher degree of affliction in underdeveloped and developing countries. This is further compounded by more than one-third of all epilepsy cases not responding satisfactorily to optimal pharmacotherapy and constituting intractable epilepsy (IE). Management of IE poses a challenge to neuro-clinicians even today and comprises of adjunctive alternative therapies like ketogenic diet, epilepsy brain surgery, vagal nerve and deep brain stimulations.