How is EEG used in the pre-operative evaluation for epilepsy surgery?

EEG, or electroencephalography, is crucial in the pre-operative evaluation for epilepsy surgery because it provides real-time data about the electrical activity of the brain. Specifically, EEG helps to identify the specific areas of the brain where seizures originate, known as seizure focus locations. This localization is essential for surgical planning, as successful outcomes depend on accurately targeting the brain regions responsible for epilepsy while preserving surrounding healthy tissue.

In surgical candidates, detailed EEG recordings, often including prolonged monitoring or invasive techniques like stereo-EEG, are used to characterize seizure patterns and assess the frequency and duration of seizures. Understanding where the seizures begin allows surgeons to construct a more accurate surgical strategy, which can significantly improve the likelihood of seizure freedom after surgery.

While other choices touch on important aspects of brain function and the overall evaluation of a patient, they do not specifically pertain to the targeting of seizure foci, which is the primary objective of using EEG in the context of epilepsy surgery evaluation.