Girl with epilepsy has rare brain ‘switch-off’

A three-year-old girl who suffered from severe epilepsy is recovering at home after undergoing rare life-changing surgery which involved “switching off” the right side of her brain.

Eleanor Ashton needed the six-hour operation after suffering daily seizures which left her with behavioural issues including being disruptive in school.

He parents, Mark and Natalie, both GPs from Barnsley, hope the seizures will stop after epilepsy surgeon Dev Bhattacharyya conducted the operation at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

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After a normal birth, Eleanor developed a cyst on the right side of her brain which caused bleeding. As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, doctors felt this was the cause of the seizures and recommended her for the new surgery technique after other treatments failed.

Although Eleanor is always likely to have some level of learning difficulty, her father said he was delighted with the operation. He said that in a couple of months since the surgery she had not had a single seizure and was learning to play peek-a-boo and connecting with people.

As the operation was carried out when she was so young, the left side of Eleanor’s brain will now be able take over the functions normally performed by the right side.

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