Epilepsy Surgery

Exceptional Epilepsy and Seizure Surgery in Central Massachusetts and Beyond

If standard epilepsy therapies, like medications, have not been successful, turn to the neurosurgeons at UMass Memorial. We help many people gain seizure control with sophisticated procedures, many of which are not widely available. We also perform advanced testing to confirm the diagnosis for challenging forms of epilepsy and plan procedures.

Types of Epilepsy and Seizures We Treat 

Specialists in our epilepsy program use research-based methods to care for people with all forms of epilepsy and seizures, including: 

• Absence seizures
• Atonic seizures
• Colonic seizures
• Focal seizures
• Generalized seizures
• Myoclonic epilepsy
• Temporal lobe epilepsy

Our Epilepsy Surgery Services

Neurosurgeons perform a broad range of epilepsy surgeries, including:

Advanced Assessments

If standard epilepsy testing with an electroencephalogram (EEG) is not conclusive or you continue having seizures while on epilepsy medications, you may benefit from advanced services that include: 

• Long-term invasive monitoring helps us pinpoint the area of the brain where seizure activity starts and how it spreads. This type of testing typically occurs over several days. 
• Stereotactic placement of depth electrodes involves implanting EEG electrodes into the brain during a minimally invasive procedure. This method enables us to reach inaccessible areas of the brain with standard testing.

Surgical Treatments

If you need epilepsy surgery, you are in caring and capable hands. Our experts are leaders in the growing field of minimally invasive robotic surgery for epilepsy. Using this technology, we can deliver treatments through small incisions with the utmost precision.

Epilepsy surgery options include: 

• Awake craniotomy with electrical brain mapping helps neurosurgeons avoid tissue that controls essential functions like speaking and movement.  
• Disconnective and resective surgeries disrupt electrical activity in the area of the brain responsible for seizures. Resections involve removing a small section of tissue. With disconnective procedures, we break up specific nerve pathways. 
• Interstitial laser ablation uses laser beams to destroy targeted areas of brain tissue, disrupting cell activity that causes seizures. We use it for temporal lobe and hypothalamic lesions. 
• Responsive nerve stimulator (RNS) placement implants a small device and connects it to the brain. When the device detects unusual brain activity, it provides a small burst of stimulation that may prevent a seizure. 
• Vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) placement also implants a small device that connects to the brain. A VNS stimulates the vagus nerve at regular intervals to help control seizure activity.