HOUSTON, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Texas
Children’s Hospital is the first hospital in the world to use
real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to
destroy lesions in the brain that cause epilepsy and uncontrollable
seizures.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110718/DC36561-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110718/DC36561-b)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110718/DC36561-c)
According to hospital experts, this new surgical approach offers
a safer and significantly less invasive alternative to craniotomy,
currently the most commonly used cranial surgical treatment for
epilepsy. For high-risk patients with deep brain lesions,
this new technique can be particularly life-changing because the
MRI-guided laser probe utilizes a much smaller pathway through the
brain to reach a deep lesion. This reduces the risk of patient
complications related to contact with surrounding brain tissue.
In addition, the MRI-guided laser probe is inserted through a
hole in the skull that is only 3.2 mm (about the diameter of a pen)
versus the removal of a larger area of skull bone for a craniotomy.
Because it is a less invasive procedure, patient recovery
time is much shorter.
More than three million people in the U.S. are affected by
epilepsy, including about 300,000 children under the age of 14.
Uncontrollable seizures can affect a child’s memory, concentration,
motor skills, school performance and quality of life. Drug
therapies control seizures in about 60 percent of those with
epilepsy. Invasive craniotomy, nerve stimulation and special diets
are treatment options for patients who do not respond to
medication.
“Based on our experience, we believe th
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