This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Hemispherectomy is the most dramatic type of brain resection performed for epilepsy. Introduced by McKenzie in 1938,1 it is indicated for intractable seizures that predominantly first occur in infancy and early childhood, arise diffusely from one hemisphere, and are associated with unihemispheric insults. These include hemimegalencephaly, other multilobar cortical dysplasias, perinatal strokes, Sturge-Weber syndrome, and Rasmussen encephalitis. Improvements in surgical techniques and patient selection criteria have resulted in lower complication rates, including lower mortality. Because hemispherectomy is often performed in children who already have moderate to severe hemiplegia, the added motor deficits from the surgery are generally low. Furthermore, given the plasticity in the developing brain, surgery when done early may allow reorganization and preservation of both motor and cognitive function.
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the editorial.
See page 253
- © 2013 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
