title: Stereotactic laser ablation of the splenium for intractable epilepsy.
abstract: Partial or complete corpus callosotomies have been applied, traditionally via open surgical or radiosurgical approaches, for the treatment of epilepsy in patients with multifocal tonic, atonic, or myoclonic seizures. Minimally invasive methods, such as MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal ablation (MTLA), are being employed to functionally remove or ablate seizure foci in the treatment of epilepsy. This therapy can achieve effectiveness similar to that of traditional resection, but with reduced morbidity compared with open surgery. Here, we present a patient with a history of prior partial corpus callosotomy who continued to suffer from medically refractory epilepsy with bisynchronous onset. We report on the utilization of laser ablation of the splenium in this patient to achieve full corpus callosotomy. Adequate ablation of the splenial remnant was confirmed by postoperative MRI imaging, and at four-month follow-up, the patient's seizure frequency had dropped more than 50%. This is the first reported instance of laser ablation of the splenium to achieve full corpus callosotomy following a previous unsuccessful anterior callosotomy in a patient with intractable generalized epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Allen L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kai J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cartmell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Casey H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Halpern
keywords: Corpus callosotomy; Epilepsy; Epilepsy surgery; Laser interstitial thermal therapy; MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal ablation; Stereotactic functional neurosurgery