SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) Kyra Cassel was born with disabilities. Her greatest challenge was epilepsy. Seizures began when she was just three months old. Her mother Janae says “it was as if the world had just been pulled out from under me.”
Kyra’s seizures were violent and frequent. She had as many as fifteen Grand Mal seizures a day. They left her exhausted and made living a normal life impossible. Kyra prayed for relief. ”It felt like, please, help me.”
Relief came at the hands of Neurosurgeon, John Kestle at Primary Children’s Medical Center. He was able to pinpoint the exact area of the brain where Kyra’s seizures originated using Magnetoencephalography. MEG is a combination of MRI and EEG. It maps brain activity by recording the magnetic fields produced by electrical currents in the brain. Dr. Kestle says “it showed us exactly where the seizures were coming from, and made the surgery a lot simpler.”
In Kyra’s case, the epileptic seizures were the result of an area in the back of her brain that was slightly deformed at birth. Dr. Kestle explains; “the cells in the surface of the brain are not organized in the usual way, and when they are disorganized the signals, the electrical currents, get disorganized and go out of control generating seizures.”
Kyra’s was given seizure-control medication but it was ineffective for her. Her seizures grew worse. Her mother says they lived in fear. “It’s the scariest thing when a Grand Mal seizure hits because breathing stops, and you can’t do CPR, or anything to start breathing again. It’s just a matter of holding her and praying.”
Surgery was the best option to stop the seizures. Using MEG technology, Dr. Kestle was able to successfully remove the faulty brain tissue with precision. “This has become a really important part of decision making. There are other tests that we do, but this one is an essential part of it. I am now reluctant to do an epilepsy surgery without it.”
MEG testing is painless and has no known side effects. It is covered by most major insurance companies. MEG is also used to map out the brain when a tumor has displaced brain matter. Dr. Michael Funke at the Neuro-imaging center says” it can determine what area language is coming from, motor skills, touch, hearing and speech.”
Kyra has now been seizure-free for a year. Her parents say they are exited by the progress she has made cognitively in the past year. She is now learning, at age 14 to be independent. Kyra says the surgery has given her a life. “The surgery helped me a lot. I feel like they are gone, and I feel kind of wonderful.”
