Breakthrough: nine-year-old Ben’s epilepsy is cured thanks to incredible brain surgery

11:00am Monday 11th March 2013

By Emma Joseph

THE family of a young epilepsy sufferer are hoping a revolutionary brain operation has cured him of the seizures.

Nine-year-old Ben Lewis had the procedure at Great Ormond Street Hospital after suffering 57 seizures over a six-year period.

Parents Lisa and James, from Blackfield Road, Bournemouth, first noticed something was wrong when Ben was three months old, when he would often throw his arms up while sleeping – similar to the moro reflex many babies experience – but his eyes also flipped to the side.

He was diagnosed with infantile seizures and prescribed medication, which seemed to keep the condition at bay. But Ben, who was also diagnosed with autism aged seven, began suffering more severe seizures at the age of three.

Lisa, an occupational therapist, said: “He was diagnosed with epilepsy quite soon after the seizures started again. It was quite a scary time, really.”

Ben, a pupil at Muscliff Primary School, was referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where, following extensive tests, he was offered the operation and the procedure took place in February.

Lisa, 40, said: “The surgeon, Professor Harkness, disconnected the parts of the temporal occipital and parietal lobes from the side of his brain that was working well and removed part of the temporal lobe where the seizures have been shown to start. It was quite an invasive operation, but Ben was amazingly brave.

Lisa and James, a financial advisor, wanted to speak out about the operation to say thank you to Poole Hospital, the ambulance service, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Ben’s school, in particular his teaching assistant.

One of the band’s members is the son of Ben’s teaching assistant at Muscliff Primary School.

The event will be raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital in Ben’s name.

Tickets are sold out, but supporters can still help by making donations direct to Great Ormond Street. Visit gosh.org/donate

A temporal occipital parietal resection removes the front part of the temporal lobe and disconnects the occipital and parietal lobes on the affected side of the brain.

If a child has partial epilepsy, the seizures start in one area of the brain. Seizures can start in any of the lobes of the brain. A temporal occipital parietal resection will remove the lobes where the seizures have been shown to start, so this should reduce or stop the seizures completely. However, if the child has seizures after the operation, he or she is still at risk of secondary generalisation.