ObjectivesOne third of patients with focal epilepsy fail to achieve seizure freedom despite best medical therapy. Surgery may provide seizure freedom if the epileptogenic zone can be safely remove. We compare the outcomes following open surgery, laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and radiosurgery (RS).DesignPRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis.SubjectsMTLEMethodsStructured searchs of PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases. Random effects meta-analysis to calculate effects sizes and a pooled estimate of the probability of remaining seizure free at one year following intervention.ResultsFrom 1212 screened publications, 57 articles were included in the quantitative analysis. Open surgery included anterior temporal lobectomy as well as transcortical, subtemporal and transsylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy. The probability of remaining seizure free at one year was 0.89 (95% CI 0.83–0.93) with open surgery based on Level 1 and 2 evidence. RS resulted in 0.88 (95% CI 0.84–0.90) probability and a single RCT revealed RS was less efficacious than open surgery. Follow up duration and study sizes were limited with LITT and RFA providing a probability of remaining seizure free at one year of 0.71 (95% CI 0.65–0.76) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.76–0.92) respectively.ConclusionsThere is no evidence supporting novel ‘minimally invasive’ approaches as being as efficacious as open surgery. Secondary outcome measures such as neuropsychological outcome and intervention morbidity are poorly reported.
Minimally Invasive versus Open Surgery for Spinal Metastasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
