Costs of epilepsy care in referral centers in Italy.

This study evaluated the costs of diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy by prognostic group in referral centers for epilepsy. Data were collected in a multicenter retrospective observational study analyzing individual costs in a sample of 708 patients from 16 Italian centers. Patients were classified into five diagnostic groups: remission, occasional seizure, active non-drug-resistant, drug-resistant seizures, and surgical candidates. The total cost per patient was 81.4 euros for the remission group, 227.6 euros for the occasional seizrues group, 316.6 euros for the active non-drug-resistant group, 415,6 euros for the drug-resistant seizures group, and 581,8 euros for surgicl candidates. Despite the limitations related to the short observation period (2 months) and the inclusion only of referral centers, this study provides some interesting information about the cost of treatment of epilepsy in Italy, underlining the wide differences between the single cost components for the various prognostic goupr