Affiliation:
1. Hospital Universitário dos Campos Gerais – UEPG, Brazil
2. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil
3. Federal University of Paraná, Brazil
Abstract
Functional neurosurgery consists of procedures that either promotes judicious destruction or chronic stimulation of the nervous system in order to treat disordered behavior or aberrant function, as it is expected in neurodegenerative disorders ([NDs], e.g., movement disorders [Parkinson's disease, Tourette's syndrome, essential tremor, ballism, and dystonia]). Over the past 20 years, approximately 100,000 deep brain stimulation implant procedures have been performed worldwide. Neurosurgery is also a well-established therapeutic option for people with epilepsy whose seizures are not controlled by anti-epilepsy drugs. The most common pathological finding in patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is hippocampal sclerosis. The aim of this chapter is to present the main NDs that can be treated through surgical procedures, and to describe the surgeries with a focus on the pathophysiology of diseases.