Teen receives technological help from Cook Children’s to manage epileptic seizures
An Arkansas teenager on Nov. 4 became the first patient in Dallas-Fort Worth to receive an implant providing technological help in managing epileptic seizures, according to a news release from Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.
Wyatt Keele, 14, of Lavaca, Arkansas, is now benefiting from an implanted NeuroPace Responsive Nerve Stimulator, a device designed to monitor, target and interrupt the electric activity in the brain that causes seizures, according to Cook Children’s hospital.
Keele’s family saw the procedure as their last hope for managing his epileptic seizures, according to the release. Keele had undergone operations to remove the portion of his brain where the seizures originated, tried multiple medications to control his symptoms and went on a keto diet.
None of it was working.
Doctors at Cook Children’s Medical Center introduced the idea of the RNS device to Keele and his family in February, according to the release. To find out if the implant would be right for him, doctors had to spend months mapping out the electrical activity in his brain.
In July, the family decided this would be the best hope for Keele.
The titanium device, about a third the size of a credit card, is approved for use in adults but is reserved as a last resort in pediatric patients.
Keele will not feel any chronic side effects or the pulses used by the device to control the seizures, according to the release.
NeuroPace reports a 75% median reduction in seizures among patients who have had the implant for nine years. Cook Children’s said this will help improve Keele’s quality of life and that patients who have used the RNS have seen reversal of damage to physical and mental health as well as a rebound in cognitive function.
And it may help doctors better understand Keele’s condition and find the most effective treatments as he grows up as the RNS sends important information like the duration, intensity and location of seizures wirelessly to doctors.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 6:00 AM.