A large treatment gap continues to limit access to epilepsy surgery in India, with fewer than 1,000 procedures performed annually despite an estimated 1.3 to 1.5 million patients potentially being eligible, according to Dr. Ramesh Shighakolli, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon at Medicover Hospitals, Secunderabad. Dr.
Shighakolli estimates that nearly 1.8 million people in India are living with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE), yet only about 2 in every 1,000 eligible patients undergo epilepsy surgery each year. He emphasizes that the gap is not due to inadequate surgical expertise, noting that established epilepsy surgery centers in India report outcomes comparable to those in high-income countries. According to him, epilepsy surgery achieves seizure freedom in approximately 50% to 86% of appropriately selected patients, whereas the likelihood of achieving seizure control by continuing…
