Ultra‐refractory epilepsy: The newly described entity
Ultra-refractory epilepsy (URE) is a newly described form of extremely difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In our study of 62 patients, all had already failed at least six different treatment attempts, including medications, brain surgery, or nerve stimulation. Most patients continued to have frequent seizures despite all available therapies, and only a small minority achieved long-term seizure freedom. These findings show that URE is a severe condition with a major unmet medical need, highlighting the importance of developing new treatment strategies.
Authors
- Jan Vinklárek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2342-815X)
- Klára Štillová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5186-8219)
- Martin Pail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2059-4822)
- Andrea Pokorná (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1305-6455)
- Petra Búřilová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8492-8994)
- Dana Mazánková (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6026-4727)
- Eva Zatloukalová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4364-532X)
- Irena Doležalová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3166-4817)
- M R Abbas Zadeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1092-3407)
- Jitka Kočvarová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9139-1091)
- Milan Brázdil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7979-2343)
- Ondřej Strýček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3636-9056)
- Eva Brichtová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1348-1758)
- Jan Chrastina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7529-773X)
Institutions
- Central European Institute of Technology (CZ)
- Masaryk University (CZ)
- Central European Institute of Technology – Masaryk University (CZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia Open
- Published
- 2025-12-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.70196
- Primary Topic
- Epilepsy research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institute of Nursing Research