Education
On rounds, I sometimes joke that the two most important organs in the body are the right and left hemisphere. Only one of many, terrible, dad jokes my poor residents and students have to endure. But what happens when one organ fails, or you have to remove it? This week on BrainWaves, we’ll review a unique neurologic condition where such incredible hemispheric dysfunction can only be treated by surgically removing half of the brain. And OMG, a show about pediatrics! ** IF YOU’RE TAKING YOUR NEUROLOGY BOARDS THIS SUMMER, CHECK OUT THE PENN NEUROLOGY BOARD REVIEW COURSE AT https://upenn.cloud-cme.com/default.aspx?P=5&EID=65373. AND FOR A DISCOUNTED RATE ON THE ONLINE OR STREAMING RESOURCES, USE PROMO CODE ‘WAVES2020’. ** Produced by James E. Siegler. Music courtesy of Ars Sonor, Daniel Birch, Jon Watts, and Lish Grooves. The opening theme was composed by Jimothy Dalton. Sound effects by Mike Koenig and Daniel Simion. Unless otherwise mentioned in the podcast, no competing financial interests exist in the content of this episode. BrainWaves' podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used for clinical decision making. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @brainwavesaudio for the latest updates to the podcast. REFERENCES Rasmussen T, Olszewski J and Lloydsmith D. Focal seizures due to chronic localized encephalitis. Neurology. 1958;8:435-45. Hart YM, Cortez M, Andermann F, Hwang P, Fish DR, Dulac O, Silver K, Fejerman N, Cross H, Sherwin A and et al. Medical treatment of Rasmussen's syndrome (chronic encephalitis and epilepsy): effect of high-dose steroids or immunoglobulins in 19 patients. Neurology. 1994;44:1030-6. Andrews PI, Dichter MA, Berkovic SF, Newton MR and McNamara JO. Plasmapheresis in Rasmussen's encephalitis. Neurology. 1996;46:242-6. Leach JP, Chadwick DW, Miles JB and Hart IK. Improvement in adult-onset Rasmussen's encephalitis with long-term immunomodulatory therapy. Neurology. 1999;52:738-42. Bien CG, Granata T, Antozzi C, Cross JH, Dulac O, Kurthen M, Lassmann H, Mantegazza R, Villemure JG, Spreafico R and Elger CE. Pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of Rasmussen encephalitis: a European consensus statement. Brain. 2005;128:454-71. Varadkar S, Bien CG, Kruse CA, Jensen FE, Bauer J, Pardo CA, Vincent A, Mathern GW and Cross JH. Rasmussen's encephalitis: clinical features, pathobiology, and treatment advances. The Lancet Neurology. 2014;13:195-205. Tan AP, Wong YLJ, Lin BJ, Yong HRC and Mankad K. Clinico-radiological approach to cerebral hemiatrophy. Childs Nerv Syst. 2018;34:2377-2390.