Midline commissurotomy for the treatment of some cases of intractable epilepsy. Preliminary report.
When epilepsy is localized, limited excisions can be very effective for control of seizures without increased neurological deficit. Van Wagenen found that a seizure discharge confined to one hemosphere would not produce an unconscious state, so he treated his patients with partial or complete sections of the corpus callosum with more success with complete sectioning. Erickson showed that total callosal section was necessary to stop the spread of cortically induced seizures from one hemisphere to the other. Luessenhop reported on four patients treated by divisions of the corpus callosum. Midline commissurotomy is an effective operation for the control of major seizures when the seizure discharge begins in the cortex of one hemisphere and becomes generalized. The procedure is equally applicable to patients with or without major neurological deficit.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000601:surgery*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000379:methods; D011183:Postoperative Complications