A: Yes. Two new options are available for the treatment of epilepsy.

One option is a new medication, Tiagabine, which recently was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of complex partial seizures. Also known by the trade name Gabatril, Tiagabine was studied at The University of Arizona College of Medicine, among other study sites.

Another new option is the NeuroCybernetic Prosthesis (NCP(r)) System, an implantible device similar to a pacemaker, which also recently received FDA approval and now is available at University Medical Center, the teaching hospital for the UA College of Medicine.

The UA Department of Neurology was one of only 20 institutions in the nation, and the only institution in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, to investigate the NCP(r) System last year as part of a nationwide study of the device in more than 200 patients.

The device holds promise for patients who have not been helped by drug therapy, which also can have severe side-effects, and who aren't candidates for brain surgery.

The device, about the size of a large pocket watch, is implanted in the upper left chest and attached by a lead to the left vagus nerve. The device controls seizures using electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, which is connected to areas of the brain thought to be involved in producing epileptic seizures. Batteries powering the device last about 4 years.