An ILAE task force has developed the first international curriculum for epilepsy surgery with the goal of providing global training standards.
“Uniform training standards can ensure that people with epilepsy worldwide have access to high-quality treatment,” said Christian Dorfer, who led the task force. Dorfer is in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Vienna and is also founding president of the International Epilepsy Surgery Society.
“There has been no formal surgical curriculum for epilepsy surgery,” said Arthur Cukiert, task force member and director of the São Paulo (Brazil) Epilepsy Clinic. “Some centers have thorough curricula for their epilepsy surgery fellowships, while others do not. We want this curriculum to be the basis for all international programs.”
Developed by ILAE’s Epilepsy Surgery Educational Task Force, the knowledge-based curriculum was evaluated by 122 neurology and neurosurgery experts from around the world. It covers epilepsy diagnosis, epilepsy surgery counseling, pre-surgical evaluation, and surgical techniques.
The curriculum acknowledges two levels of training: Level 1 for widely available surgical techniques, and Level 2 for more specialized or high-tech surgical options. The work is published in the journal Epileptic Disorders.
Epilepsy surgery is considered when seizures do not respond to medication. It can include surgical removal or destruction of the seizure focus (area of the brain where seizures originate), disconnection of a region of the brain, or implantation of a neurostimulator to interrupt seizures.
An epilepsy is considered drug resistant if seizures do not respond to two appropriate and tolerated courses of anti-seizure medications. Approximately 1 in 3 people with epilepsy will experience drug-resistant epilepsy and may be candidates for surgery. Despite randomized controlled trials showing that epilepsy surgery is safe and effective, fewer than 1% of people with drug-resistant epilepsy are referred for surgical evaluation.
“This curriculum holds promise to reduce the treatment gap of epilepsy surgery candidates,” said Dorfer.
More information:
Christian Dorfer et al, A curriculum for epilepsy surgery: A report from the Surgical Commission’s Epilepsy Surgery Educational Task Force and the Educational Council of the ILAE, Epileptic Disorders (2025). DOI: 10.1002/epd2.70054
Provided by
International League Against Epilepsy
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