Talk:Hemispherectomy

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[edit] Fiction

I once read a science fiction book long ago in middle school which involved the main character landing alone on the moon to scout it out and receiving a hemispherectomy. The moon was divided up into caches of war computers and robots belonging to different countries there to fight out proxy, if unwitnessed, wars. Yes, quite the story :) it made an impression on my adolescent mind. I'd really like to find out the title or author again; I'm curious if anyone who happens on this page knows. Thanks Heaven's knight 06:52, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flaws

One major flaw that I'm unhappy with is the "is used to treat" part of the initial description. I know that I'm not being complete there, and there's some overlap, but I don't know enough about the field to be exact. If someone who does know something about neurosurgery can edit that, I'd be thrilled.

Beyond that, I think the only major flaw is the rather roughly handled references in the last paragraph. -Harmil 28 June 2005 13:27 (UTC)

[edit] Age and indications and neuroplasticity

Someone had listed the maximum age of surgery to be 5 years old. However, the article referenced later[1] clearly states, "Mean age at surgery was 7.2 years." I am changing this to reflect that a hemispherectomy is almost always performed in children due to the concept of neuroplasticity.

In reference to neuroplasticity, a 2002 article[2] seems to support the concept of reinforcement of already existing ipsilateral pathways as opposed to development of new pathways. --Kevin Dufendach 15:20, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ben Carson

What about Ben Carson. And I kinda wanted to know more that the actual surgery itself involved.

[edit] Fix

"It is reserved for cases which can't be managed with medication alone." Wow...that make it sound like hemispherectomies is performed whenever medications have a less than desirable effect. Hemispherectomy is a last ditch solution (and not a very good one) to treating extreme epilepsy. Fixed. Jumping cheese 04:38, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] fluid build up

the article states that hemispherectomies are rarely performed because fluid can build up pressuring the remaining hemisphere. Can someone explain why a surgeon couldn't simply place an object where the hemisphere was to stop this happening. 129.67.178.236 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 20:55, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Vining EP, Freeman JM, Pillas DJ, Uematsu S, Carson BS, Brandt J, Boatman D, Pulsifer MB, Zuckerberg A. Why would you remove half a brain? The outcome of 58 children after hemispherectomy-the Johns Hopkins experience: 1968 to 1996. Pediatrics. 1997 Aug;100(2 Pt 1):163-71. PMID 9240794
  2. ^ R. Chen, L. G. Cohen and M. Hallett, Nervous system reorganization following injury. Neuroscience. 2002;111(4):761-73. PMID 12031403