#Boy undergoes rare surgery to split two sides of brain

An Indiana boy is finally leading the life of a typical kid following exceedingly rare surgery that permanently split the two sides of his brain.

A newly developed procedure to sever the right and left sides sides of 11-year-old Zach Kurek’s brain was a success, the Chicago Tribune has reported. The boy had suffered from debilitating seizures and other developmental setbacks since birth.

Now, doctors are calling the pioneering surgery a breakthrough for neurologic patients and doctors, as a safer and long-lasting technique to disconnect the brain.

“That’s one of the most rewarding procedures you have in neurosurgery,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Warnke, who performed Kurek’s hemispherectomy.

Kurek, from the Chicago suburb Lake Station, was diagnosed with epilepsy as an infant after a stroke during birth rendered his brain’s left hemisphere all but ineffectual.

Over time, the right hemisphere learned to compensate for the damaged left, however imperfectly.

As a result, the misfires in the circuitry of Kurek’s brain would manifest dozens of seizures each day, prompted by everyday occurrences — predictably, moments that gave him a start, such as a barking dog or slamming door.

A heavy schedule of medication to mitigate symptoms of epilepsy sustained Kurek in childhood, but bouts of rage, depression and trouble sleeping brought on by the powerful drugs began to hamper his life almost as much as the seizures.

Surgery would be Kurek’s last resort, doctors told his mother and primary caretaker, Amanda Morey. Dr. Warnke consulted with a medical team at the University of Chicago who advised a minimally invasive technique for a hemispherectomy — usually an hours-long procedure that may even cause partial paralysis, not to mention other typical risks of surgery, such as infection and inflammation.

The promising new method used lasers, rather than knives, to make the meticulous cuts necessary for a safe outcome. Despite the fact that the technique had only been tried once before, Warnke floated the idea to Kurek and Morey.

“If something bad happened, I would never forgive myself,” said the single mother.

Exasperated by his condition, however, Kurek eventually decided he wanted to go through with surgery, however risky or rare.

At the Center for Care and Discovery in Hyde Park last February, Warnke spent eight hours navigating Kurek’s brain with the help of continuous CT scans to guide him. He used laser fibers to sear the corpus callosum, the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres, and also severed the left side’s ties with the rest of the body.

Several weeks since surgery, Warnke has said his patient is now “a different child,” and called the laser-assisted hemispherectomy a game-changer, according to Chicago Tribune.

“Now, I haven’t seen this kid in a bad mood,” said Morey. “We let him go out in the backyard when he wants to now. Just being able to have that independence, he loves it.”

“I feel good,” said Kurek. “Surgery fixed me right up.”