Most people undergoing surgery for drug-resistant focal epilepsy can expect to be free of disabling seizures two years afterwards, although outcomes depend on lesion histopathology, researchers report.

Surgery should, therefore, be considered in every person with such refractory epilepsy, with 50-77.5% of patients likely to benefit, they write in the Lancet Neurology.

In a longitudinal study across 37 centres in Europe, researchers examined outcomes among more than 9100 patients, 60% of whom were younger than 18 at epilepsy onset and one third of whom were under 18 when they had the surgery.

It’s believed to be the largest and most comprehensive study to date, they said.