Archive · 9 Aug 2026
Kerala girl seizure-free two years after AIIMS robotic brain surgery
A 12-year-old girl grew up in a remote village in Kerala, India.
When she was a baby, she had a stroke that hurt the right half of her brain.
Because of that, she started having seizures almost every day, and medicine could not stop them.
Her heart was also very weak, so regular brain surgery was too dangerous.
Doctors at AIIMS in Delhi used a special robot to disconnect the sick half of her brain through tiny openings in her head, a surgery called ROTCH.
During the surgery, her heart stopped for a while, but the doctors worked together and saved her.
A few months later, a blood clot formed on her brain, and doctors treated it with a tiny tube inside a blood vessel instead of opening her head again.
Now, two years later, she has no more seizures and can do normal daily activities.
Her mother and the AIIMS doctors are very happy.
A 12-year-old girl from a remote village in Kerala has been seizure-free for two years after minimally invasive procedures at AIIMS, Delhi.
She had one to two seizures every day for nearly a decade after a stroke at nine months permanently damaged the right half of her brain.
Because of severe congenital heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy, doctors used Robotic Thermocoagulative Hemispherotomy (ROTCH) instead of high-risk open surgery.
She survived a cardiac arrest during the operation, and a chronic subdural haematoma found three months later was treated with middle meningeal artery embolization, avoiding another craniotomy.
Her single mother funded the March 2024 trip from Kerala to Delhi through the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
- Who
- A 12-year-old girl from a remote village in Kerala with drug-resistant epilepsy, her single mother, and a multidisciplinary AIIMS Delhi team led by Dr Manjari Tripathi, Dr P Sarat Chandra, Dr Ramesh Doddamani, and Dr Ajay Garg.
- What
- She underwent minimally invasive Robotic Thermocoagulative Hemispherotomy (ROTCH) followed by middle meningeal artery embolization and has been seizure-free for two years.
- When
- The family travelled to AIIMS Delhi in March 2024; the report was published on August 9, about two years after the surgery.
- Where
- AIIMS, Delhi, India; the girl comes from a remote village in Kerala.
- Why
- Conventional open brain surgery was extremely risky because of her severe heart disease, and surgery was her only realistic option for disabling, drug-resistant epilepsy.
- Patient
- 12-year-old girl from a remote village in Kerala
- Diagnosis
- Drug-resistant epilepsy after a stroke at nine months; congenital heart disease with dilated cardiomyopathy
- Main procedure
- Robotic Thermocoagulative Hemispherotomy (ROTCH), an ultra-minimally invasive technique developed at AIIMS Delhi
- Intraoperative complication
- Cardiac arrest requiring prolonged resuscitation
- Second procedure
- Middle meningeal artery embolization for a chronic subdural haematoma, performed by Dr Ajay Garg
- Location
- AIIMS, Delhi
- Outcome
- Seizure-free for two years; able to carry out routine daily activities
- Financial assistance
- Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund