Question

A person is suffering from frequent seizures that start in the prefrontal cortex before going all through the brain. This is incapacitating to the person, and has been offered a treatment whereby the prefrontal cortex would be removed and therefore the seizures would stop. Is this an ethical procedure? Give the pros and cons to this procedure, and what you might do if this were happening to a friend of yours.

Answer 1

Answer: Frontal lobe seizures/epilepsy are often very difficult to diagnose, care must be taken especially during surgery to prevent hurting vital tissues in the brain.

From the question, total/outright removal of the prefrontal cortex shouldn't precede other treatment options for frequent seizures that starts from the prefrontal cortex.

Detailed diagnosis has to be ascertained first by reviewing symptoms,taking medical history and giving a physical examination.

It is also important that the person run some tests like brain Scan, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Scan,EEG (electroencephalogram) and video electroencephalogram) to ascertain the main cause of the seizures and rule out other medical conditions that might be causing the seizures before outlining treatment options which includes;

Medications; Different anti-seizure medications have proven to be effective in the control of frontal lobe seizures.ut can either be in single administration or combination of two or more anti seizure medications.

Surgery; Surgical management of frontal lobe seizures is tactical and not aimed at removing the whole prefrontal cortex abruptly.rather it entails pin pointing the area of the brain where the seizures occur through the use of specialized imaging techniques.

The surgical interventions include;

-Removing the focal point, that is removing just the point where the seizures starts/begins inorder to reduce or eliminate the seizures.

- In a situation where the focal point is very vital to remove,that part of the brain will be isolated by making series of cuts so that when the seizure begins,it will not be able to spread to other parts of the brain.

- The vagus nerve can be stimulated,it works like a cardiac pacemaker to reduce the number of seizures.

- Implanting a neurotransmitter or an electrode into the brain,when these are activated,they stop the seizure from occuring.

The following approach can be taken systematically in managing the frequent seizures of the person rather than begining with the outright removal of the frontal lobe cortex.