Success after the first brain implantation in a child with 300 epileptic seizures per day

Oran Knowlson, the first child to receive a brain implant to control epileptic seizuresGREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL

Oran KnowlsonA 13-year-old British man who suffered from 300 epileptic seizures today it was first patient in the world who gets it brain implant for seizure control as advertised The keeper.

The operation, part of a clinical trial, took place in October last year at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. During the intervention they placed neurostimulator under the skull, which sends electrical signals to the brain.

The device, known as Picostim, is manufactured by a British company. Amber therapy, He reduced his daytime seizures by 80%.

Hundreds of attacks per day

The teenager lives in Somerset, about three hours’ drive from London, and suffers from severe epilepsy from the age of three, known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Still this type of brain disorder was resistant to treatment common.

Before the neurostimulator came his way, Knowlson required around-the-clock care. Every day he suffered hundreds of very severe attacks, as a result of which he lost consciousness and stopped breathing, requiring resuscitation and emergency medical care.

The operation lasted 8 hours, during which two electrodes were inserted deep into Oran’s brain until they reached thalamus, a tightly connected center of the brain. “This square device, measuring 3.5 cm and 0.6 cm thick, was placed in a depression in Oran’s skull where the bone had been removed and secured with screws to the surrounding skull,” he explained. Martin Tisdallpediatric neurosurgeon who led the intervention.

The neurostimulator that changed Oran’s lifeBBC

Change in life They are praying

His mother Justine told various British media that her son’s quality of life had improved significantly and that Now he is more cheerful and talkative. “The future looks promising, which is something I would never have dreamed of saying six months ago.”

Before this, his life was dominated by epilepsy. “It stole his entire childhood.”He stated this in an interview with the BBC. “He was a fairly intelligent three-year-old boy, and a few months after he started having seizures, his condition deteriorated sharply and he lost many of his skills,” he recalled of the same medium.

“For Oran and his family, epilepsy completely changed their lives, so they saw him riding a horse and regain independence This is simply amazing. “We are very happy to be a part of their journey,” Tisdall said.

Three more children are expected to take part in this study. project CADET, in the United Kingdom

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