title: Comment to the paper: palliative functional hemispherectomy for treatment of refractory status epilepticus associated with Alpers' disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Performing epilepsy surgery in a child with a neurodegenerative illness is a relatively unexplored challenge. In this issue of CNS, Lupashko and coauthors report the use of epilepsy surgery to eliminate seizures without influencing the underlying progressive disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional hemispherectomy was performed in a 4-year-old girl with seizures caused by Alpers' disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seizure freedom and an improved quality of life were achieved briefly despite deteriorating neurologic status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further studies will be needed to confirm the positive benefits of palliative epilepsy surgery in children with progressive neurologic illnesses.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Training and the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Miami Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA. Michael.Duchowny@mch.com
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duchowny
mesh_terms: D002549:Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D038421:Hemispherectomy; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000601:surgery*