New-onset partial epilepsy in adults

Medical management, the mainstay of treatment for partial epilepsy, involves choosing from an array of antiseizure drugs, most of which have comparable efficacy against partial-onset seizures. Effective treatment strategies involve matching the characteristics of drug and patient to control seizures without adverse effects, a task that requires familiarity with the potential advantages and drawbacks of individual antiseizure drugs. For medically refractory partial epilepsy, resective surgical procedures should be considered. If the patient is not a surgical candidate, the vagus nerve stimulator or ketogenic diet may improve seizure control in selected cases. Emerging therapies include medications with novel mechanisms of action, deep brain stimulators, and cortical stimulators that respond to neural patterns of seizure activity.