cortical dysplacia?

[aboizd1]

Hi-

just found out that I have cortical dysplacia- not even sure if thats correctly spelled... But I was wondering if anyone else has that and if they had anything to tell me about it? All it is to me right now is a title because my seizures seem to be fully controlled (cross my fingers *knock on wood*) -the only thing my neurologist said was that if I began having seizures steadily was that i could be monitored and then there would be the option of brain surgery :O :|

Thanks!

 

[Ann T.]

Hello, aboizd1:

While I don't have cortical dysplsia, I've been tested for epilepsy surgery[but didn't qualify--my seizures couldn't be localized to 1 area of my crazy brain]. I'm knocking on wood really hard & often in hopes that your seizures don't increase. Here's what I found on wikipedia.org: "Cortical dysplasia is a congenital abnormality where neurons in an area of the brain failed to move in the proper formation in utero. Sometimes neurons will develop larger than normal in certain areas (of the brain). This causes the signals sent through neurons to misfire. Cortical dysplasia is commonly found in the cerebral cortex." And, the reason your neurologist mentioned surgery as an option is that it may control seizures better than medication alone. Hope this info helps.

 

[drarvindr]

Dear aboizd1,
here's some info about cortical dysplasia:
1) It is a congenital abnormality where the neurons in the cortex (outer layer0 of the brain are not arranged properly . If this occurs in only a part of the brain and everything is where it should be everywhere else , it is called "focal" c.d. Half of all patients with epilepsy that does not respond to drugs have this problem

2)Because of recent advances in medical imaging and biotechnology , people with FCD are now good candidates for brain surgery

3) there are many types of FCD based on how the arrangement of cells is disorganised or if there are abnormally large neurons ("balloon cells") etc. i won't go into the finer details. the point is that the prognosis depends on the type of FCD as well

4) surgery is an option if the epilepsy does not respond to medicines.

5) The success rate of the surgery is proportionate to how much abnormal tissue is taken out , although some cases continue to have post op seizures despite total removal. (Kloss et al. reported a 50% seizure free state and 20% excellent seizure control in a group of children operated for FCD in 2002 . there were 36 children in this trial)

Hope i've been of help . feel free to ask me anything else that's on your mind. i'll do my best to help