Journal article
Evaluation of epilepsy surgery scope and training in Latin America
Epilepsy & behavior, Vol.142, p.109209
05/2023
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109209
PMID: 37075510
Abstract
•There is high variability of surgical procedures performed throughout Latin America.•Advanced surgical interventions are performed throughout Latin America.•Laser ablation procedures are not widely available.•There are areas to improve training and exposure in surgical epilepsy internationally.
To describe the variety of surgical epilepsy procedures offered in Latin America and characterize the training in surgical management for epilepsy and neurophysiology fellows.
A 15-question survey was sent to Spanish-speaking epilepsy specialists in Latin America (members of the International Consortium in Epilepsy Surgery Education) to characterize their epilepsy surgery practices and formal training programs when present, including fellowship program characteristics, trainee involvement, and assessment of trainee performance. Epilepsy surgery procedures included resective/ablative interventions and neuromodulation therapies approved for drug-resistant epilepsy. Associations between categorical variables were evaluated using the Fisher Exact test.
There were 42 responses from a total of 57 survey recipients (73% response rate). Most surgical programs performed either 1 to 10 procedures (36%) or 11 to 30 procedures (31%) per year. Most centers (88%) performed resective procedures, while none of the surveyed institutions performed laser ablations. Most of the centers performing intracranial EEG (88%) and advanced neuromodulation (93%) were in South America. Centers with formal fellowship training programs were more likely to perform intracranial EEG procedures compared to centers without fellows (92% vs 48%, respectively, OR = 12.2 [95% CI 1.45–583], p = 0.007).
There is significant variability in surgical procedures performed across epilepsy centers in a Latin American educational consortium. Advanced surgical diagnostic procedures and interventions are performed in a fair number of surveyed institutions. Strategies to enhance access to epilepsy surgery procedures and facilitate formal training in surgical management are necessary.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Evaluation of epilepsy surgery scope and training in Latin America
- Creators
- Hernan Nicolas Lemus - Brigham and Women's HospitalSteven Tobochnik - Brigham and Women's HospitalLuis Carlos Mayor Romero - Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Epilepsy & behavior, Vol.142, p.109209
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109209
- PMID
- 37075510
- NLM abbreviation
- Epilepsy Behav
- ISSN
- 1525-5050
- eISSN
- 1525-5069
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/2023
- Academic Unit
- Neurology
- Record Identifier
- 9985016523902771
Metrics
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