3 days ago
A Kitchener man is now seizure free following a rare epilepsy treatment at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC)
Neurosurgeon Dr. Jonathan Lau reviews medical scans with his patient Steven Kieffer, who underwent a rare epilepsy procedure called a laser ablation last year.
'It was almost ten years ago now, when I started experiencing seizures, I had no idea that they were seizures at the time. I just had funny feelings occasionally,' said Kieffer.
After struggling with debilitating epilepsy seizures for nearly a decade, Kieffer became the first patient to undergo the new donor funded epilepsy procedure at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
'Now we have treatments that can be more targeted, so if we know a person's seizures are coming from a very specific part of the brain, then we can insert a probe there and actually perform damage just to that area,' explained Dr. Lau. 'It's more minimally invasive, so it has a lot of advantages in terms of recovery.'
Steve is now six months seizure-free and says his quality of life has changed drastically.
'It has changed my life, I am feeling better this year than I have in many years,' said Keiffer.
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LHSC Neurosurgeon Dr. Jonathan Lau reviews medical imaging with his patient Steven Kieffer. (Reta Ismail/CTV London)
LHSC says the procedure was made possible through a $500,000 donation from Domino's Pizza, Inc.
The introduction of laser ablation technology at LHSC is a major advancement in epilepsy treatment in southwestern Ontario. Early results have been promising, with patients discharged the day after their procedures.
Dr. Lau says the procedure is new to Canada, and once more doctors are trained on performing it, it will become more widely available.
'It's really a huge collaborative effort to make sure that we can treat patients and people like Steven and offer new advances for epilepsy.'
