Epileptic teen seizure-free after pioneering brain surgery

News

By Patrick Reilly

A Scottish teenager with epilepsy underwent a groundbreaking surgery to remove a piece of his brain and is no longer having seizures for the first time in 13 years, according to his mother.

Angus Bain, 17, endured seizure attacks at least once a week for most of his life, but doctors are optimistic he’ll be free of the debilitating condition after he became one of the first patients in the UK to have the new laser surgery, SWNS reported.

The trailblazing surgery removes the brain tissue that causes seizures. Ten weeks later, Angus has not had a single incident.

“Our lives have been consumed with Angus’s epilepsy since he was 5,” his mother, Nicki Bain, of  Gateside, Fife, told the outlet.

“He has been on lots of very heavy medication, had wires in his head, brain stimulation, so many tests and scans.”

“I can’t even put into words what it means to him, and all our family, for him to be seizure-free for Christmas this year,” she said.

Angus received the procedure at the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital in October. The innovative laser technology — known as MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) — is minimally invasive and the surgery takes just under two hours with a relatively short recovery time, according to SWNS.

“The laser surgery is a fantastic development for specific patients and will give some with epilepsy a real chance to live a normal life,” Dr. Jothy Kandasamy, consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, told the outlet.

“The surgery has been life-changing not just for Angus, but for the entire family,” he added.

The teen is just the second young person in Scotland to get the surgery.

Roslyn Neely, CEO of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, said she was “encouraged by the life-changing impact that the laser surgery has had for Angus.”

Nicki Bain said her son’s “future is looking so bright, and we’re incredibly proud and excited for him.”

The teen said he hopes to one day get his driver’s license, play rugby or go skiing, things that had been too risky for him to do pre-surgery.

“I wish I could go to parties with my friends. I see photos of all my friends together and I am jealous that I can’t go but they can,” he wistfully told BBC Scotland News.

While checking those things off his list may take some time as he continues to recover, Angus is thrilled with the outcome so far.

“I’ve never had such a long period not having a seizure, it’s an amazing relief. I’m so happy.”