CHENNAI : Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road that specialises in advanced neuro care, made a medical achievement in treating Khaled, a 36-year-old resident of Bahrain, who had been suffering from severe epileptic seizures for over 30 years.
Khaled experienced fits from the age of six years, which began in his right upper limb, progressively intensifying and developing into generalised seizures that lasted up to 10 minutes. He experienced these debilitating attacks three to 10 times a day and it severely affected his quality of life. Despite seeking treatment from multiple doctors and undergoing various medication regimens, the condition worsened over time, affecting his cognitive and mental growth as well as his physical capabilities. The repeated seizures resulted in falls and fractures, necessitating corrective surgeries.
In a desperate search for effective treatment, Khaled’s parents learned about Kauvery Institute of Brain and Spine in the city. At the time of his visit, Khaled was on five medications, unable to walk independently and exhibited dullness, apathy, poor memory and slow cognition. Under the care of Dr Krish Sridhar, group mentor, Neurosciences, and director, Kauvery Institute of Brain and Spine, and Dr T Arul Mozhi, senior neurologist, at Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road, a diagnostic examination, including MRI, PET CT scans video EEG, assessed the correlation between the seizures and brain electrical activity.
They performed a five-hour-long surgical procedure, Anterior Corpus Callosotomy, under EEG control and image guidance. Following the surgery, Khaled exhibited a remarkable recovery. With adjustments to his medication regimen, the frequency and intensity of his generalised seizures with loss of consciousness gradually decreased and eventually ceased. Post-surgery EEG assessments showed improvement in brain electrical activity, with minimal epileptic activity.
Three weeks after the successful surgery, Khaled is now free from generalised attacks and loss of consciousness. He has regained the ability to walk independently and reported increased alertness and cognitive improvement.
Dr Sridhar said, “When epilepsy or fits is uncontrolled despite the patient being treated with multiple drugs, it is important that the case be seen at a high-end Neuroscience centre. The management of these cases requires a multidisciplinary team consisting of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuro critical care specialists, along with the rehabilitation and neuro electrophysiology teams. Surgery should be considered for difficult-to-treat or uncontrolled epilepsy”.