Research done at Cook Children's in Fort Worth could help doctors worldwide identify which part of the brain causes seizures in children with epilepsy.
Professor Christos Papadelis, Ph.D., founding director of research at the hospital's Jane and John Justin Neurosciences Center, led the team in demonstrating noninvasive techniques using advanced computer systems that can measure the electric and magnetic signals generated by the neural cells in the brain.
One out of every 100 children in the U.S. suffers from epilepsy, which is a brain disease that causes seizures. Brain surgery offers a treatment option for 30% of children for whom anti-seizure medicine is ineffective.
Their study, published in the scientific journal Brain, can allow doctors to locate better where brain surgery will successfully stop seizures in children without invasive procedures.
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"Surgical resection of the brain area where these functional networks are localized offers higher chances of seizure freedom than conventional methods," said Papadelis, director of neuroscience research at Cook Children's.
"This novel method has the potential to improve the outcome of children with epilepsy, particularly those who were previously ineligible for neurosurgery due to the absence of abnormal activity in their electrophysiological conventional diagnostic tests," Papadelis said.
Before the study, invasive procedures were the only method to pinpoint the cause of seizures and could be a complex process with a risk of infection or bleeding for children.
Children with uncontrolled seizures have a higher risk of poor long-term intellectual and psychological outcomes and a poor health-related quality of life.
This study is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and is in collaboration with the Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Ludovica Corona, a Ph.D. student of bioengineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, serves as the first author of this scientific paper.s
