ABSTRACT
Epilepsy is the most common serious chronic neurological condition in the world. Approximately 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy (Annegers 1997; Sander 2003; Yuen and Sander 2004). Epidemiological studies suggest that, with proper treatment, between 70% and 80% of people developing epilepsy will go into remission, while the remaining patients continue to have seizures and are refractory to treatment with the currently available therapies (Sander 1993; Kwan and Sander 2004). e most common risk factors for epilepsy are cerebrovascular diseases, brain tumors, alcohol, traumatic head injuries, malformations of cortical development, genetic inheritance, and infections of the central nervous system (Halatchev 2000). In resource-poor countries, endemic infections, such as malaria and neurocysticercosis, seem to be major risk factors (Duncan et al. 2006). Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of partial epilepsy, aecting at least 20% of all patients with epilepsy (Babb 1999), and is the most common form of drugrefractory epilepsy (Engel 1993). Atrophy of mesial temporal structures is well known to be associated with TLE and hippocampal sclerosis, which is a very frequent histological abnormality in this form of epilepsy (Cendes et al. 1993).
