Pilot study assesses focused ultrasound ablation for treatment-refractory epilepsy

In a Phase I open-label pilot study, two patients with treatment-refractory focal-onset epilepsy were treated with focused ultrasound unilateral anterior thalamotomy.
The investigators report that the treatment was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events or neurologic defects. One participant experienced a reduction in verbal fluency and memory.
Preliminary efficacy analysis indicated a decrease in seizure frequency in both participants; one was seizure-free at the 1-year follow-up, and frequency declined from 90–100 to 3–3 seizures per month in the other.