UK boy fitted with world-first epilepsy device

Somerset, England

Riding horses and playing foosball, Oran Knowlson might look like an average 13-year-old.

But for the past 10 years, he's suffered from daily seizures.

Some so extreme that he lost consciousness and even stopped breathing, said Oran's mother Justine.

"Every moment of his life is affected because of his epilepsy." // "I had a fairly bright and up together three-year-old that within a few months of seizures commencing deteriorated rapidly and lost a lot of skill."

But a new device fitted into his skull in a world-first trial at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital in October 2023 has reportedly reduced Oran's daytime seizures by 80%.

The device's leads are connected to a neurostimulator, which emits a pulse of current to block or disrupt abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

Here's consultant paediatric neurosurgeon Martin Tisdall.

"This study is hopefully going to allow us to identify really whether this is an efficacious treatment for epilepsy, and also is looking at a new type of device which is particularly useful in children because the implant is in the skull and not in the chest and we hope that will reduce the potential complications." // "...We now know that we've left him with the leads exactly where we want them to be so that gives the best chance of the device working and reducing the seizures."

Oran is part of the CADET project, which investigates the viability of deep brain stimulation to treat children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Three more children are set to be fitted with the neurostimulator as part of the trail.

Seven months after the surgery, Justine says she's seen a massive improvement in her son, who also has autism and ADHD.

"Very optimistic for the future. I think the Great Ormond Street team gave us hope back, which was something we didn't have. Now the future looks brighter."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/uk-boy-fitted-world-first-224438166.html