Successful Endoscopic Disconnection for Hypothalamic Hamartomas in a Child with Gelastic Seizures: An Unusual Case in a Resource-Scare Setting

Abstract

Although the endoscopic disconnection surgery for the hamartomas was previously shown as a safe and effective treatment strategy in eliminating gelastic epilepsy, to date, there was no convincing evidence with this procedure in the resource-scare settings. We discuss an unusual case of a 7-year-old child who suffered from pharmacoresistant gelastic seizures was surgically treated with the endoscopic disconnection of the hypothalamic hamartomas. The patient underwent endoscopic surgery through the left ventricle approach to disconnect the lesion of the hypothalamus. Immediately after surgery, the patient's clinical laughter was eliminated with no complications. From the initial experience at our center, successful outcome of this case contributes to supporting the solid evidence in choosing the right treatment approach for the hypothalamus in subsequent cases, towards not only Vietnam but also the countries having similar resource-scare conditions.

Keywords: drug-resistant epilepsy; endoscopic surgical disconnection; gelastic seizure; hypothalamic hamartomas.