Childrenʼs neurosurgeons from Lviv removed part of the brain hemisphere of a 4-year-old patient from Northern Ireland in order to save the child from severe seizures. This is the first time that the doctors of the St. Nicholas Childrenʼs Hospital treated a small patient from abroad — her family traveled almost 3 thousand kilometers for the operation.
This was reported by the First Medical Association of Lviv.
When Rachel Gribben was a year and a half old, her family noticed slight body twitches and developmental delays. A few months later, she experienced her first severe seizure — doctors diagnosed epilepsy with epileptic spasms. Doctors also discovered focal cortical dysplasia, that is, poorly developed convolutions of the brain, which provoked convulsions.
The little patient is Rachel Gribben from Northern Ireland.
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Rachelʼs attacks only got worse over time. In search of salvation, Rachelʼs parents came across the famous American neurosurgeon Luke Tomich. He said that the girl can be relieved of 80-90% of attacks by surgery, and advised them to seek help from a team of Ukrainian specialists in Lviv.
Despite the threat of missile attacks, the family came to Lviv. Doctors immediately began preparations for surgery.
“We chose a combined approach [to the affected area of the brain]. The skull cavity was opened step by step, the changed zone was found, it was separated and disconnected step by step. And then we deleted it completely. Focal cortical dysplasia, that is, this changed part of the brain was very close to the area responsible for limb movements. That is why we worked together with neurophysiologists, using advanced technologies," said neurosurgeon Mykhailo Lovha.
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The operation lasted 7 hours. The intervention was successful: convulsions are completely absent and will no longer delay the childʼs development. Little Rachel has already returned to Northern Ireland.