Breakthrough Epilepsy Surgery Frees 21-Year-Old from a Decade of Seizures, Offering Hope for Drug-Resistant Cases
India has over 12 million epilepsy patients, but 30% do not respond to medication
With only 500 epilepsy surgeries performed annually in India, millions remain untreated
India has over 12 million epilepsy patients, yet many continue to experience uncontrolled seizures due to limited access to specialized treatment and drug-resistant epilepsy. Among them was Tushar Singh, a 21-year-old patient who had been suffering from frequent seizures since the age of 11. Despite multiple medications and conventional imaging tests, doctors were unable to identify the source of his seizures, ruling out surgery as a viable treatment.
Tushar’s condition remained critical, with weekly seizures severely impacting his daily life. Drug resistance left him with limited options, a reality faced by nearly 30% of epilepsy patients in India. In his case, traditional diagnostic methods were ineffective in pinpointing the origin of the seizures, making treatment even more challenging. India faces a severe shortage of epilepsy specialists, with only one neurologist per million people. Despite a high prevalence of drug-resistant epilepsy, fewer than 500 epilepsy surgeries are conducted annually due to a lack of expertise and access to specialized care. This treatment gap leaves many patients without viable solutions, often forcing them to live with debilitating seizures.
Dr. Amit Kumar Agarwal, Senior Consultant & Assistant Professor, MD, DM Neurology, PDF Epilepsy, PDCC Epilepsy, Amrita Hospital Faridabad, said, “This case had its own set of complexities, traditional imaging like MRI and PET scans showed no abnormalities, making it impossible to pinpoint the seizure focus. We used stereo electroencephalography (SEEG) to capture the patient's brain activity in real time, and we pinpointed exactly where the seizures started and happened. This level of precision is what allows us to treat cases once thought inoperable, giving patients a renewed chance at a seizure-free life”
Dr. Satyakam Baruah, Senior Consultant & Assistant Professor, MBBS, MS (Gen Surgery), MCh Neurosurgery (NIMHANS), Mark Rayport Fellowship in Epilepsy Surgery, said, “For drug-resistant epilepsy patients, every seizure is a lost opportunity—affecting education, employment, and quality of life. By integrating SEEG and minimally invasive neurosurgery, we are offering life-changing treatment even for cases once considered untreatable. In this case, once we identified the source, we performed an ECoG-guided microsurgery to precisely remove the seizure focus while preserving healthy brain tissue. The success of this case highlights the advanced epilepsy care we are bringing to India.”
Tushar Singh, the Patient, said, "For 10 years, I lived in fear, never knowing when the next seizure would strike. I had tried every medication, but nothing worked. When doctors told me surgery wasn’t an option, I felt hopeless. But at Amrita, they refused to give up on me. Today, I’ve been seizure-free for seven months, and I finally have my life back.”
Advanced techniques such as SEEG and minimally invasive epilepsy surgeries have shown success in improving patient outcomes. However, addressing the broader issue requires greater awareness, investment in specialized medical training, and increased availability of epilepsy monitoring units across the country. At Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, one of the country's largest epilepsy monitoring units, doctors employed Stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG), an advanced brain-mapping technique, to locate the seizure focus. Following SEEG-guided evaluation, neurosurgical intervention was performed. Seven months after the procedure, Tushar has not experienced further seizures, marking a significant improvement in his condition.