With a prevalence of 0.8 to 1.2%, epilepsy represents one of the most frequent chronic neurological disorders; 30 to 40% of patients suffer from drug-resistant epilepsy (that is, seizures cannot be controlled adequately with antiepileptic drugs). Epilepsy surgery represents a valuable treatment option for 10 to 50% of these patients. Epilepsy surgery aims to control seizures by resection of the epileptogenic tissue while avoiding neuropsychological and other neurological deficits by sparing essential brain areas. The most common histopathological findings in epilepsy surgery specimens are hippocampal sclerosis in adults and focal cortical dysplasia in children. Whereas presurgical evaluations and surgeries in patients with mesial temporal sclerosis and benign tumors recently decreased in most centers, non-lesional patients, patients requiring intracranial recordings, and neocortical resections increased. Recent developments in neurophysiological techniques (high-density electroencephalography [EEG], magnetoencephalography, electrical and magnetic source imaging, EEG-functional magnetic resonance imaging [EEG-fMRI], and recording of pathological high-frequency oscillations), structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (ultra-high-field imaging at 7 Tesla, novel imaging acquisition protocols, and advanced image analysis [post-processing] techniques), functional imaging (positron emission tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography co-registered to MRI), and fMRI significantly improved non-invasive presurgical evaluation and have opened the option of epilepsy surgery to patients previously not considered surgical candidates. Technical improvements of resective surgery techniques facilitate successful and safe operations in highly delicate brain areas like the perisylvian area in operculoinsular epilepsy. Novel less-invasive surgical techniques include stereotactic radiosurgery, MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy, and stereotactic intracerebral EEG-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation.

Automatic computer-based seizure detection and warning devices are important for objective seizure documentation, for SUDEP prevention, to avoid seizure related injuries and social embarrassments as a consequence of seizures, and to develop on demand epilepsy therapies. Automatic seizure detection systems can be based on direct analysis of epileptiform discharges on scalp-EEG or intracranial EEG, on the detection of motor manifestations of epileptic seizures using surface electromyography (sEMG), accelerometry (ACM), video detection systems and mattress sensors and finally on the assessment of changes of physiologic parameters accompanying epileptic seizures measured by electrocardiography (ECG), respiratory monitors, pulse oximetry, surface temperature sensors, and electrodermal activity. Here we review automatic seizure detection based on scalp-EEG, ECG, and sEMG. Different seizure types affect preferentially different measurement parameters. While EEG changes accompany all types of seizures, sEMG and ACM are suitable mainly for detection of seizures with major motor manifestations. Therefore, seizure detection can be optimized by multimodal systems combining several measurement parameters. While most systems provide sensitivities over 70%, specificity expressed as false alarm rates still needs to be improved. Patients' acceptance and comfort of a specific device are of critical importance for its long-term application in a meaningful clinical way.