Laser brain therapy offers hope to epilepsy sufferers in England

Hundreds of people with hard-to-treat epilepsy will be offered laser therapy targeting the brain on the NHS in England from next year.

A tiny laser inside a probe in the skull enables doctors to destroy brain tissue causing seizures.

The treatment is more precise and less risky than normal brain surgery and patients recover more quickly, NHS England says.

Charity Epilepsy Action said the new therapy was "an exciting ray of hope".

Around 600,000 people in the UK have epilepsy. Most control their seizures with medication, but one in three can't - and around 1,000 are suitable for conventional brain surgery every year.

And many are put off by the potential risks and the lengthy recovery period.

In contrast, the wound from laser treatment is so small that patients are able to go home within a day or two, and return to work within a week.

NHS England said around 150 patients would benefit from laser therapy in 2023 with numbers set to rise in future years.

The procedure is carried out in an MRI scanner, allowing doctors to navigate around blood vessels and other important brain structures to find the precise bit of tissue they want to get rid of.

A very precise laser beam, at the tip of the probe, then eliminates the brain tissue using heat and light.

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain, causing repeated seizures.

A seizure happens when there is a sudden burst of intense electrical activity in the brain, which disrupts the way the brain normally works.

There are many different types of epilepsy and it can start at any age.

Some types last for a limited amount of time while for others, epilepsy can be a life-long condition.

Source: Epilepsy Action

NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said the laser beam treatment for epilepsy patients was "life-changing" and would offer hope to hundreds of people every year.

"By replacing invasive neurosurgery with a cutting-edge laser therapy, allowing clinicians to better target the parts of the brain causing the epilepsy, we not only dramatically reduce risks to these patients, but drastically reduce their recovery time both in and out of hospital," he said.

After conventional brain surgery, patients spend up to 10 days in hospital and several months at home recovering.

Those suitable for laser therapy must be having frequent seizures which cannot be controlled by maximum-strength drugs, as well as a specific part of the brain identified as causing the condition.

They will also have been investigated for open brain surgery and have a form of epilepsy that makes that option very risky.

Alison Fuller, director of health improvement and influencing at Epilepsy Action, said: "This new therapy is an exciting ray of hope for the many people with epilepsy whose lives are being impacted by the harsh reality of uncontrolled seizures."

She said she hoped it would help "improve outcomes and ultimately their quality of life".