“Unstoppable.” That’s how UC Davis Health pediatric epileptologist Trishna Kantamneni describes her 8-year-old patient, Savon Maina. Kantamneni leads Savon’s team of specialists and directs pediatric epilepsy care in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.
Kantamneni first met Savon several years ago. At that time, he frequently visited the emergency department with injuries from falls during seizures. Even though he took high doses of medication for his epilepsy, Savon experienced up to 10 seizures a day. He was stuttering and had nausea, vomiting and constipation.
“There were four different medicines, and they impacted him very negatively,” said Francis Kageche, Savon’s father. “He was aggressive to his brother. He would pinch, scratch, and in some cases, bite him.” Savon also experienced attention and speech difficulties.
Savon’s family and care team attributed these troubling effects to many factors, including medications, uncontrolled seizures and a prior brain injury. So, Kantamneni initiated Savon’s evaluation for epilepsy surgery. This surgery would offer him the chance of a seizure-free life without medications.
Evaluation included a stay of several days in the UC Davis epilepsy monitoring unit, or EMU, in the hospital. There, Savon’s seizures were monitored in real time and recorded for analysis.
