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Learn about the successful international collaboration model for epilepsy surgery in Tunisia, bridging the treatment gap. Discover the impact of presurgical evaluations and advanced video-EEG monitoring techniques in identifying surgery candidates. Explore how EUMEDCONNECT network project facilitates efficient data transfer for real-time consultation between Tunis and France neurophysiological teams, leading to improved surgery outcomes.
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International collaboration on epilepsy surgery in Tunisia - a model for the future
Introduction • Epilepsy is a frequent neurological disorder • Medication does not always work If seizures> 2 years and 2 drug trials then the chance of long term control of epilepsy with medication is ~10% • Epilepsy have an adverse impact upon • Work • Education • Driving • Mariage • Life expectancy
Introduction • Epilepsy surgery : effective treatment for medically refractory seizures. • 60–80% of patients with temporal epilepsy become seizure free after resective surgery • This technique, although effective, remains limited in developing countries, creating a significant ‘‘surgical treatment gap’’
Presurgical evaluation of epilepsy • Identification of candidates eligible for surgery : crucial step before surgery • Established at the Neurological Department of Charles Nicolle Hospital (Tunis) • Includes : detailed history, neurological exam, brain MRI, scalp video-EEG monitoring and neuropsychological tests
Video-EEG Monitoring Seizure focus • Continuous EEG recording with simultaneous video recording of the patient clinical manifestations • Objective: localization seizure origin and propagation • Requires technical and medical competencies
EUMEDCONNECT network project Length of video-EEG Combination of Video and EEG large files causing problems in data transfer Using in real time the high speed NECT backbone network, a rapid access transfer of the video-EEG recordings from Tunis to France was performed
Video-EEG recordings were then discussed between the two Neurophysiological teams. In cases of concordance of clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging data and video-EEG recording, the surgery indication was then considered