Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:29:25.283Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hemispherectomy for the Treatment of Epilepsy and Behavior Disturbance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

N.O. Ameli
N.O. Ameli*
Affiliation:
Dariush Kabir Medical School, Tehran
*
42 Himount Drive, Willowdale, Ontario M2K 1X5, Canada
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary:

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study is based on 28 personal cases. Twenty seven cases of infantile hemiplegia and one case of Sturge- Weber syndrome, with uncontrollable epilepsy and severe behavior disturbance, were subjected to hemispherectomy. Any evidence of a defect in the other hemisphere was a contraindication to operation. In nine cases the left cerebral hemisphere was removed. Following the operation, epilepsy and behavior disturbances were abolished in nearly all of the cases. In those with left hemispherectomy there was no speech disturbance before or after the operation.

It is postulated that at birth all cerebral funtions including consciousness, speech, and movement are bilaterally represented, but to unequal degrees. With training and education these functions become more lateralized. Thus, we can explain the greater plasticity of the brain in childhood.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1980 , pp. 33 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1980

References

REFERENCES

Ameli, N.O., (1960) Subtotal Hemispherec-tomy. Report of Ten Cases. The Proceeding of the Tenth Middle East Assembly. American University of Beirut. 161–162.Google Scholar
Ameli, N.O., (1964) Subtotal Hemispherec-tomy in Treatment of Epilepsy. Acta Med. Iran. 2: 86–98.Google Scholar
Anokhin, P.K., (1940) Quoted by Luria(1966) See Below.Google Scholar
Bastian, H.C., (1880) The Brain an Organ of Mind. Paul, C.K.London.Google Scholar
Bastian, H.C., (1898) A Treatise on Aphasia and Other Speech Defects. D. Appleton & Co. New York.Google Scholar
Bates, J.A.V., (1951) Electrical Activity of the Cortex Accompanying Movement. J. Physiol. London 113: 240–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, J.A.V., (1957) Observations on the Excitable Cortex. In. Man. Lect. Scient. Basis. Med. 5: 333–347.Google Scholar
Brodal, A., (1973) Self Observations and Neuro-Anatomical Considerations after a Stroke. Brain 96: 675–694.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dandy, W.E., (1928) Removal of Right Cerebral Hemisphere for Certain Tumours with Hemiplegia. J.A.M.A. 90: 823–825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J.C., (1973) The Understanding of the Brain. McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Firooz-Bakhsh, A., (1977) Disturbance of Speech in Illiterates. Thesis in Persian. Univ. Tehran.Google Scholar
Foerster, O., (1936) Motorische Felder und Bahnen. Handbuch der Neurologie by Bunk & Foerster Vol. 6. Springer-Verlag. Berlin.Google Scholar
Gazzaniga, M.J., Bogen, J.E., and Sperry, R.W., (1955) Observations on Visual Perception after Disconnection of Cerebral Hemispheres in Man. Brain. 88: 221–236.Google Scholar
Jackson, J.H., (1931) Selected Writings 2 Vols. Hodder & Stoughton. London.Google Scholar
Krynaw, R.A., (1950) Infantile Hemiplegia Treated by Removing One Cerebral Hemisphere. J. Neurosurg. & Psychiatry. 13: 243–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luria, A.R. (1966) Higher Cortical Functions in Man. Tavistock Publication. London.Google Scholar
Penfield, W. (1954) Mechanisms of Voluntary Movement. Brain 17: 1–17.Google Scholar
Penfield, W., & Jasper, H., (1954) Epilepsy and the Functional Anatomy of the Human Brain. Churchill. London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penfield, W., (1954) Brain Mechanisms and Consciousness. Churchill. London.Google Scholar
Smith, A. & Sugar, O., (1975) Development of Above Normal Language and Intelligence 21 Years after Left Hemispherectomy. Neurology 25: 813–818.Google Scholar
Sperrey, R.W., (1968) Hemisphere Deconnection and Unity in Conscious Awareness. Amer. Psychol. 23: 723–733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sperrey, R.W., (1970) Perception in the Absence of the Neocortical Commissures. Res. Publ. Ass. Res. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 48: 123–138.Google Scholar
Walker, A.E. (1955) In Prospect & Retrospect in Neurology. Little Brown & Co., Boston & Toronto.Google Scholar
Williams, D.J. & Scott, J.W., (1939) The Functional Responses of the Sympathetic Nervous System of Man Following Hemidecortication. J. Neurol. Psychial 2: 313–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, P.J.E., (1970) Cerebral Hemispherectomy for Infantile Hemiplegia. A report of 50 Cases. Brain. 93: 147–180.Google ScholarPubMed
Zülch, K.J. & Micheler, E., (1978) Hemispherectomy 25 years after. Neurosurgical Review. 11: 64–78.Google Scholar