Epilepsy Care Journey

Find the right care the first time for your seizures

Doctors in front of epilepsy treamtent machine

Successful treatment starts with an accurate diagnosis. Whether you are newly diagnosed or if you’ve been living for years with a seizure disorder, you will be seen in a Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Mayo Clinic. Level 4 is the highest level designation granted by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.

Mayo's locations in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota use the latest diagnostic imaging to pinpoint the exact cause of your seizures. Then Mayo tailors a care plan designed just for you using the latest treatment innovations. Mayo Clinic teams diagnose and treat thousands of patients with epilepsy each year. These teams have successfully treated even the most complex cases.

Individualized care plans

Your collaborative epilepsy care may involve several customized treatment options:


Medication carefully selected to fit your needs

Medication carefully selected to fit your needs


Surgery to remove or disrupt the area where seizures originate

Surgery to remove or disrupt the area where seizures originate


Stimulation therapy to disrupt seizure patterns in the brain

Stimulation therapy to disrupt seizure patterns in the brain


Dietary considerations, such as the ketogenic diet, which have been known to affect seizure frequency

Dietary considerations, such as the ketogenic diet, which have been known to affect seizure frequency


More than 900 procedures are performed by Mayo Clinic’s neurosurgeons each year for epilepsy patients, including:

Extraoperative brain mapping

This procedure aims to locate the seizure source. Using this procedure, the multidisciplinary team can determine if the removal of brain tissue will cure seizures while maintaining other function. Types include grid insertion and stereotactic electroencephalogram.

Stereotactic minimally invasive laser surgery

This less-invasive treatment option has advantages for improved quality of life. During this procedure, surgeons ablate, or burn away, the area of the brain causing seizures.

Neuromodulation treatments

These treatments sometimes are used when the seizure area cannot be removed. Instead, these treatments use devices and electrodes designed to stimulate a specific area when a seizure begins to stop a major seizure. Types include deep-brain stimulation, responsive neurostimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation.

Temporal lobectomy

This treatment, which involves a brain resection, is used in select cases to reduce seizure frequency and severity, or stop seizures completely.

Learn more about types of epilepsy surgery



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