Both interventions were performed at Neuquen County Hospital (HPN) and attended by a specialist from Garrahan Hospital, an expert on the subject, who assisted the HPN pediatric neurosurgery team.
For the first time, two pediatric epilepsy operations were performed in Neuquén County. It was performed at Neuquen County Hospital (HPN) Dr. Eduardo Castro Rendon and was attended by a specialist from Garrahan Hospital, an expert on the subject, who assisted the HPN pediatric neurosurgery team. Both cases were due to tumors that caused seizures.
The Minister of Health, Andrea Biffi, stressed the importance of conducting this type of procedure for the first time in the province and congratulated the team that intervened in both operations. “The health system is proud that Neuquen County Hospital has become a reference center for these surgeries in Patagonia, which will improve access and avoid prolonged hospitalization delays and deaths in other counties. Beva concluded by congratulating the entire team involved in both procedures.
In this sense, it is important to note that HPN plans to bring together experts on certain health problems to strengthen the approach to people with complex diseases (avoid referrals) and motivate the team through experience sharing and learning.
In this case, the arrival of the surgical coordinator for the Department of Epilepsy Surgery at Juan B. Hospital was coordinated. surgery.
The professional was the one who attended and performed the surgeries with the HPN pediatric neurosurgeons: Juan Manuel Linares, Head of Pediatric Neurosurgery; and Juan Pablo Mengede, both members of the Pediatric Surgery Service led by Dr. Claudio de Carli.
“This is the first epilepsy surgery to be performed at Neuquen for pediatric patients,” said Linares. “For the surgeries, we use electrocortical monitoring so we can plan well where the most epileptogenic area was, draining the tumor and also the areas that could be affected by the tumor and cause epilepsy.” .
“Often these patients don’t get better when the tumor is removed, so they also have to remove a little bit of tissue that looks normal but actually causes epilepsy, which is why it’s not just surgery for the tumors but also with the standards for epilepsy treatment,” Linares added, noting That: “The surgeries went well, the patients progressed well in the postoperative period, the two left the operating room without any helplessness, they spoke, woke up, breathing on their own, so we are very satisfied with the result. Each surgery took just 6 hours.
The HPN operating room team that worked on the interventions consisted of the above-mentioned surgeons, anesthesiologists, physiological monitoring team, surgical assistants, operating room nurses, and anesthesiologists assistants.
It should be noted that two pediatric neurosurgeons from Neuquén were trained at Garhan Hospital. “We want to solve these cases at Castro Rendón Hospital and not have to make referrals, to become a reference center for these surgeries in Patagonia. When we opened the unit two years ago, very few patients came to us, five surgeries were performed a year, and now we already have 70 patients suffering from from various diseases.
Arrival of a pediatric epilepsy surgery expert
Marcello Bartolucci, the specialist who specializes in this topic, explained: “I was called by the pediatric neurosurgery service and the hospital administration, I came to work with the surgeons here on two patients, a 10-year-old girl from Neuquen who had previously had surgery two years ago in Buenos Aires in Garhan Hospital and continued convulsive crises. It was a temporary tumor due to epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, they had a partial operation and there was an important part of the tumor that we excised here in Neuquen and we think it is with a very good progression.”
Similarly, Bartolucci added: “What we are looking for, on the one hand, is seizure control, and on the other hand, a diagnosis to know the type of tumor and from there to make a diagnosis, and you will have to know whether to do complementary treatment. Many times after the crises are under control. Their psychological symptoms can improve. These low-grade tumors, if they can be completely removed, can be cured, and if one leaves them untreated, they can develop into a malignant tumor over time, in which case I think we were able to drain it completely.”
Regarding the other intervention, the specialist said: “The other surgery we had was for a 10-year-old boy from Zabala, who is a patient with difficult to control epilepsy, whom we call a refractory patient because the medicine he is giving is not working. .He underwent surgery for the first time. And he had much more epilepsy than the girl, with almost daily crises and surgery which we think went well too.
In conclusion, Bartolucci concluded, “Epileptic neurosurgery is a subspecialty, not many patients have this disease, and this type of surgery is primarily a diagnostic and therapeutic option for oncology and epilepsy. At Garrahan, we have a program that has been in operation for nearly 20 years. With over 2000 patients undergoing epilepsy surgeries.It is a very active program.This allows us to get experience because we have a very large group of patients, but it is not different from traditional surgery,except because there are some very specific details,that is why I came to collaborate with The pediatric neurosurgery team at the hospital.
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