A Comprehensive Operative Guide offers a distinctive focus on the evaluation and surgical management of medically refractory epilepsy, with particular emphasis on surgical anatomy and operative technique. Assembled by a team of experienced epilepsy neurosurgeons, epileptologists, and allied specialists, it guides readers through every stage of the presurgical pathway—from preoperative work-up and advanced imaging to neuropsychological assessment, invasive monitoring methods (including stereoelectroencephalography) and careful patient selection.

At the heart of the guide is an extensive presentation of the relevant surgical anatomy and operative techniques of epilepsy surgery, encompassing traditional and emerging interventions. Dedicated chapters address temporal, frontal, insular, central, parietal, occipital, and cingulate region epilepsy, along with in-depth reviews of important topics that include focal cortical dysplasia, epileptogenic tumors, hemispherectomy, and corpus callosotomy. High-quality intraoperative photographs, precise anatomical illustrations, and operative videos serve as a valuable visual companion throughout, helping readers follow each procedure step-by-step and translating written descriptions into practical, hands-on understanding. Detailed coverage of minimally invasive and neuromodulatory strategies—LITT, radiofrequency thermocoagulation, VNS, RNS, and DBS—rounds out this comprehensive volume. These approaches are presented within the broader context of surgical decision-making, emphasizing how modern technologies complement—and in select cases transform—traditional resective strategies.

By combining foundational principles with detailed operative anatomy and contemporary techniques, this resource provides an essential foundation for excellence in medical and surgical care for patients with medically intractable epilepsy, serving as an indispensable reference for trainees (students, residents, fellows), practicing neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists, neuropsychologists, and other members of the multidisciplinary epilepsy team.

Demitre Serletis, MD, PhD, FRCSC, Epilepsy Center & Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Dr. Demitre Serletis is an epilepsy neurosurgeon-scientist in the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center, whose surgical practice focuses on adult and pediatric patients with epilepsy. He also directs the BrAIn Dynectome Laboratory, with research interests in nonlinear dynamics, neuroengineering and machine learning approaches as applied to the study of intracranial recordings. Dr. Serletis holds a joint appointment with the Department of Biomedical Engineering within Cleveland Clinic Research. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto in Canada, where he completed his Neurosurgery Residency and PhD graduate training in Neuroengineering. He subsequently completed formal Epilepsy Surgery Fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic, and previously worked at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock) and the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada), prior to rejoining the Cleveland Clinic as faculty in 2022.
 
Richard Rammo, MD, Center for Neurological Restoration, Epilepsy Center & Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Dr. Richard Rammo is a functional/epilepsy neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. He treats patients within the Center for Neurological Restoration and the Epilepsy Center, and has clinical interests in resective and neuromodulatory approaches to epilepsy. His research is focused on optimizing neuromodulation through SEEG-guidance. Dr. Rammo is a graduate of the Neurological Surgery Residency Program at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and has completed fellowships in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, as well as Epilepsy Neurosurgery, at the Cleveland Clinic, prior to joining on as faculty in 2021.
 
William E. Bingaman, MD, Epilepsy Center & Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Dr. William E. Bingaman is a Professor of Neurological Surgery in the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Neurological Institute and Head of the Section of Epilepsy Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. His clinical interests are in the surgical treatment of adult and pediatric epilepsy, with special interests and expertise in hemispheric epilepsy. Dr. Bingaman is a graduate from Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, and from the Cleveland Clinic Neurosurgery Residency Program. He has also completed fellowship training in Spinal Neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic, where he has served as faculty since 1997.