Is surgery advisable for children with multifocal seizures?

Q: My son, 7 years old, is having severe developmental delays. He is diagnosed as having multifocal seizures and albinism. He is on tegretal and revutril. Can he be surgically treated for stopping seizures? Will his development increase after such surgery and stopping of anti convulsants? Where can such surgery be performed?

A:Surgery for epilepsy is considered only when medicines such as the ones your son is receiving fail to control his seizures. In such patients, where drug therapy has failed, surgery is helpful if the abnormal part of the brain giving rise to the seizures is localised to just one area within the brain. Surgery is usually NOT advised when there is multifocal origin of seizures.