The King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) has achieved a groundbreaking medical milestone in the Middle East. The hospital's neuroscience center successfully eliminated a drug-resistant epileptic focus responsible for seizures using a minimally invasive thermal radiofrequency ablation technique with electroencephalography (EEG), thus eliminating the need for traditional open-brain surgery.
Led by Dr. Ibrahim Althubaiti, a consultant neurosurgeon at KFSHRC, this innovative procedure targets the area of the brain responsible for seizures, significantly improving patients' quality of life. Recurrent seizures can have serious repercussions on daily activities and increase the risk of physical injuries due to sudden loss of motor control.
The KFSHRC procedure alleviates these burdens. Frequent emergency room visits associated with seizures are not only stressful for patients and families but also drive up healthcare costs. This new approach offers renewed hope for overcoming the condition, regardless of age.
The thermal radiofrequency technique involves inserting a fine needle into the brain to destroy the cells responsible for seizures, eliminating the need for open-brain surgery and speeding up the healing process.
The KFSHRC neuroscience center holds the record for the youngest child in the world to have successfully undergone removal of an epileptogenic lobe—a 14-day-old baby. The center was also the first to use fine electrodes for accurate identification of epileptic focus.
Caroline Haïat
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