“A big part of the stress for my husband and I was leaving our other three kids at home to go [to a hospital farther away],” said Danielle. She noted that it was much easier to drive two hours to Cincinnati from their home in Versailles, OH.
“In Cincinnati, we already knew the team at the TS Clinic, and I know we can always count on them. They explained everything to make sure [our] questions were answered.”
Testing, Evaluation and Surgery Completed at Cincinnati Children’s
Aiden went through phase one testing and evaluation in August. The Epilepsy Surgery Team, a multi-specialty, comprehensive medical team that employs state-of-the-art medical and surgical technology to treat patients with epilepsy, reviewed Aiden’s data and recommended a stereo electroencephalogram (EEG) to get an accurate recording of the electrical activity of his brain. In January 2021, Aiden underwent a stereo EEG.
“We map the networks of the brain that are causing seizures and then map the networks of the brain that are functionally important,” explained Dr. Greiner. “Then we work with our colleagues in the Epilepsy Center, including neuroradiology and, obviously, neurosurgery, to develop a plan of attack.”
In an effort to remove the specific area of the brain that was causing Aiden’s seizures, the surgical team, led by neurosurgeon Francesco T. Mangano, DO, performed resection surgery in March 2021.
“Our goal is to be as minimally invasive as possible and remove as little brain tissue as might be necessary,” explained Dr. Mangano. “[Aiden’s] plan involved a fairly small tuber resection in the left frontal lobe, which was promising. Unfortunately, the location was very close to his motor system—the part of his brain that controls his right-sided movements.
“This was challenging, but our team provided Dr. Mangano with the functional maps generated from [Aiden’s] evaluation, and he did a wonderful job removing the target tuber without affecting the nearby motor system,” said Dr. Greiner.