Rasmussen's Encephalitis & the Cure

What is Rasmussen's Encephalitis?

Rasmussen's Encephalitis is a rare brain disease. It was originally diagnosed in 1958, by Dr. Rasmussen’s of Montreal Canada. The disease is an extremely rare neurological disorder that causes severe uncontrollable seizures. The disease affects children ususally under the age of 10, both boys and girls. Most people with this disease will experience frequent seizures and brain damage over the course of the first 8 to 12 months, and then enter a phase of permanent neurological deficits.

• Rasmussen's Encephalitis often has a quick onset wherein the child begins having petite mal seizures that start as staring episodes which then graduate into partial complex seizures and then full blown tonic clonic type seizures, in other words Grand malls. A Grand mal is where the child shakes violently.
• Uncontrollable seizures can damage a young child’s brain. It can deplete the brain of oxygen and cause serious brain damage.
• Another characterization is shown by continued frequent and severe seizures that are resistant to treatment, encephalitis (which is inflammation of the brain), hemi paresis (paralysis on one side of the body), dementia (the loss of intellect and emotional disturbances), the loss of motor skills and speech, and even metal deterioration.

• No one really knows for sure.
• Scientists and doctors suspect either a viral infection that enters the body and settles in the brain and/or some type of an auto-immune disease.

Besides the obvious signs and symptoms, doctor use other methods to help diagnosis Rasmussens Encephalitis.

• These include tests such as EEG monitoring (an electroencephalogram test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain), CAT scans (X-rays), MRI’s (magnetic resonance imaging test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures), and PET scan (Positron emission tomography test that combines computed tomography and nuclear scanning scans).
• The most frequent and usually most beneficial method of treatment is a hemispherectomy, removal of half the brain. This is what Brandi underwent, removing the entire right hemisphere.

A Hemispherectomy is a surgical procedure where one cerebral hemisphere (half of the brain) is removed or disabled. This disconnections the communication between the two hemispheres, which prevents the spread of seizures to the functional side of the brain. A hemispherectomy is only for people who dont experience any improvement in their condition after having taken medication or for those who have very severe uncontrollable seizures in one half of their brain.

• According to WebMDHealth, about 85% of people who have a functional hemi will experience significant improvement.
• About 60% will become seizure-free.
• In many cases, most frequently in children, the remaining half of the brain takes over the tasks that used to be controlled by the section that was infected.