Characterization of anti-seizure medication reduction and discontinuation rates following epilepsy surgery

Objective: Many patients pursue epilepsy surgery with the hope of reducing or stopping anti-seizure medications (ASMs), in addition to reducing their seizure frequency and severity. While ASM decrease is primarily driven by surgical outcomes and patient preferences, preoperative estimates of meaningful ASM reduction or discontinuation are uncertain, especially when accounting for the various forking paths possible following intracranial EEG (iEEG), including resection, neuromodulation, or even the absence of further surgery. Here, we characterize in detail the ASM reduction in a large cohort of patients who underwent iEEG, facilitating proactive, early counseling for a complicated cohort considering surgical treatment.

Methods: We identified a multi-institutional cohort of patients who underwent iEEG between 2001 and 2022, with a minimum of two years follow-up. The total number of ASMs prescribed immediately prior to surgery, choice of investigation modality, and subsequent surgical treatment were extracted for each patient. Primary endpoints included decreases in ASM counts from preoperative baseline to various follow-up intervals.

Results: A total of 284 patients were followed for a median of 6.0 (range 2,22) years after iEEG surgery. Patients undergoing resection saw an average reduction of ∼ 0.5 ASMs. Patients undergoing neuromodulation saw no decrease and trended towards requiring increased ASM usage during long-term follow-up. Only patients undergoing resection were likely to completely discontinue all ASMs, with an increasing probability over time approaching ∼ 10 %. Up to half of resection patients saw ASM decreases, which was largely stable during long-term follow-up, whereas only a quarter of neuromodulation patients saw a reduction, though their ASM reduction decreased over time.

Conclusions: With the increasing use of stereotactic EEG and non-curative neuromodulation procedures, realistic estimates of ASM reduction and discontinuation should be considered preoperatively. Almost half of patients undergoing resective surgery can expect to reduce their ASMs, though only a tenth can expect to discontinue ASMs completely. If reduction is not seen early, it likely does not occur later during long-term follow-up. Less than a third of patients undergoing neuromodulation can expect ASM reduction, and instead most may require increased usage during long-term follow-up.