Special cure for Deacon
SINCE the age of three, Deacon has been suffering from dystonia – a condition characterised by abnormal muscle tone that results in muscular spasm, unusual posture and involuntary twisting of the body.
Last year the condition of the 10-year-old boy from De Rust in the Little Karoo became so bad that doctors at Red Cross Hospital, where he was admitted, had to put him into an induced coma to stop the repetitive violent movements.
However, thanks to medical specialists working in the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit (ICU), Deacon now leads a normal life after his condition was corrected using a sophisticated neurological technique – deep brain stimulation.
Deacon became the first child at the hospital to undergo the treatment and was the youngest child in southern Africa to receive the image-guided stimulation treatment for the disorder.
The treatment is usually carried out on patients with Parkinson’s disease, and is generally not performed under general anaesthesia.
However, in Deacon’s case, the procedure was carried out while he was under general anaesthetic.
It involves two tiny electrodes surgically implanted deep into the part of the brain that controls movement.
Electrodes are tunnelled under the skin and connected to a battery pack, which is implanted under the skin of the abdomen.
The device delivers a constant current to the deep centres of the brain. Doctors control the strength and the rate that electrical impulses occur.
Maria Conradie, Deacon’s grandmother, recalled his remarkable recovery.
Having been admitted early last year, after three months in ICU Deacon needed incubation, ventilation and muscle relaxers, but his condition did not improve.
Doctors eventually put him into a coma to stop the violent twisting of his body.
By this time the family was preparing itself to say its last goodbyes and turn off the life support machines. “It was a hopeless situation. Nothing seemed to work, the medicines weren’t working. Before he was in hospital, he could never be left alone and I had to hold him down to feed him. He would hurt himself because he wasn’t able to control his movements,” she said.
But following a motivation by the hospital’s neurosurgeon Dr Nico Enslin, the deep brain treatment was approved.
Enslin, who trained in the technique in various parts of Europe, is convinced that without it, Deacon would probably would have died from renal failure.
Following the implanting of the device, Deacon is now living a normal life – walking, talking, jumping, eating on his own, running, playing soccer and is back at school. Conradie recalls his operation. “When I saw Deacon open his eyes after the surgery, I knew it was a miracle. Deacon had tears in his eyes and I knew it was because he recognised me, which was another miracle after being in a coma for so long.
“I have Deacon back with me now and he is a regular, naughty 10- year- old,” she said. Since his operation, three more children 3 children have been treated using the technique.