There are many medications like Topamax that are used to treat epilepsy and help prevent seizures. The problem with most of them is that they do not really work for about 25 percent of the patients who use them. While surgery has proven to be a better alternative for many patients, it is conducted in a very dangerous and invasive way by opening the skull so that the part of the brain that is causing the epilepsy can be removed.
However, a new noninvasive form of surgery may make that a thing of the past.
Mark S. Quigg M.D. is a neurologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is currently one of the lead researchers taking part in an international clinical trial that uses gamma knife radiosurgery to treat mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. The gamma knife is guided by an MRI and focuses the radiation beams on the lesion, stopping it from causing seizures.
“This trial could offer patients with the appropriate kind of epilepsy a choice of noninvasive surgery,” Quigg says. “Epilepsy surgery probably is underutilized, and an alternate method may bring the benefits of surgery to a wider group of patients.”
This surgery could prove groundbreaking and is being talked about a good deal by experts. With medications like Topamax being only mediocre in preventing seizures and being associated with serious side effects, the drugs almost seem barbaric in comparison. Topamax has been linked to various adverse side effects including birth defects. Some of the birth defects linked to Topamax include PPHN, oral clefts, cleft palate, neural tube defects and heart, lung and brain defects.
If your baby was born with any of the birth defects linked to Topamax after being exposed to the drug in-utero, contact the attorneys at Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Topamax lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your child’s injuries.