The Decibel To save this baby, doctors had to kill part of her brain
Dec 30, 2025
Jennifer Yang, a health sciences reporter, narrates the harrowing journey of Maryam Fatima, born with hemimegalencephaly, a condition causing severe seizures. Muzna Nafees, Maryam's mother, shares intimate details of her daughter's struggles, from hitching breaths to relentless seizures. Dr. Prakash Muthusamy, a neurointerventionist, explains the groundbreaking endovascular embolic hemispherectomy procedure that saved Maryam's life. The emotional discussions reveal the critical decisions families face in desperate medical situations.
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Seizures Dominated Miriam's Early Days
- Miriam was born twitching and suffered hundreds of seizures daily from birth, sometimes every minute.
- Her seizures stopped feeding, sleeping and breathing, forcing repeated hospital transfers and intensive care.
How Hemimegalencephaly Drives Seizures
- Hemimegalencephaly causes one hemisphere to be overgrown and disorganized, producing relentless abnormal electrical activity.
- That malformed half can trigger uncontrollable seizures that hijack development and energy in infants.
Time Is Brain For Infant Epilepsy
- Young brains have high plasticity, so earlier treatment lets the healthy hemisphere compensate for lost function.
- Delays risk 'kindling' where the healthy side learns to have seizures too, making intervention too late.