In a first for Europe surgeons at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) have successfully treated an epilepsy patient using a high precision thermal (laser) therapy. The treatment is only suitable for those people with refractory epilepsy where the focus of the seizure can be precisely targeted. This technique means that surgery is much less invasive, leading to a shorter period of hospitalisation than would normally be required with open brain surgery.

Initially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to identify with pin-point accuracy where the focus of the seizures resides in the brain. The laser is then applied to this area of the brain through a tiny hole in the skull, without the need for open brain surgery.

“This procedure is indicated for patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy when the seizure focus has been clearly identified,” Philippe Ryvlin, head of the clinical neuroscience department at the CHUV is quoted as saying.