METHODS: In 2018, we developed the HCMC epilepsy core multidisciplinary team with members from various hospitals and centers. The team typically included neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, and nursing specialists. Presurgical evaluations were performed for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, fulfilling the ILAE criteria, with an epileptogenic lesion (mesial temporal sclerosis, low-grade gliomas, or focal cortical dysplasia). All epilepsy surgeries were performed in two epilepsy surgery centers in HCMC between 2018 and 2021. The patients were followed up for at least 12 months.
RESULTS: Fifty-two patients with drug-resistant epilepsy underwent presurgical evaluation, of which 35 underwent surgery. Among the 52 patients, 20 (38.5%) underwent surgery after showing concordance among the results of standard presurgical assessments such as semiology, scalp interictal or ictal electroencephalography, and brain imaging. Among the 26 people with epilepsy who required more advanced evaluations, 15 underwent surgery with intraoperative electrocorticography to delineate the optimal resection borders. The outcomes of Engel Class I and Class II were achieved in 29/35 (82.8%) and 6/35 (17.2%) patients, respectively.
SIGNIFICANCE: The epilepsy surgery program with a multicentered collaborative model in a resource-limited setting showed favorable outcomes in HCMC, Vietnam.
METHODS: A survey was developed by multicenter consensus. The survey captured institutional characteristics, geographic distributions, intracranial EEG utilization, and barriers to SEEG. Respondents were representative epilepsy centers across the region.
RESULTS: Four epilepsy centers with established intracranial/ SEEG and two centers from a country without any access to SEEG participated. The responses identified that 1. Access to SEEG remained highly restricted across the region with an estimated one capable epilepsy center per 100 million people; 2. The region includes over half a billion people living in countries with no access to SEEG; 3. Staffing/ financial constraints were universal factors that limited growth of services or development of new services; 4. SEEG numbers have plateaued as a result of these challenges.
CONCLUSION: The study puts into real numbers the challenges faced by the region in accessing SEEG. SEEG remains highly underutilized and future approaches should focus on regional training and referral pathways.