Educational Media Reviews Online

Although surgical intervention as a treatment for epilepsy has been presented in the literature for several decades, only in the last ten years have both technological advances and enhanced surgical techniques made this treatment option much more viable. This video, prepared for Canadian television, provides an intimate and realistic case study of Christine Arnould - a young woman who has made the decision to have surgical treatment for her epilepsy. As background, the video provides information on brain anatomy and physiology, and what occurs in the brain to initiate the epileptic seizures. The root cause of the brain's 'electrical storms' is still not well understood. After this introduction, the video documents real-life events from Christine's decision to have the surgery; through the complicated process of brain mapping for the foci of the epilepsy; the actual surgery while she is conscious; and through the post surgical period as she recovers and waits to see how effective the surgery was. The video is highly recommended. It succeeds well at providing insight to the human side of health care decision making and outcomes, as well as, providing a significant amount of clinical information in a non-technical manner.