King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSH) has successfully performed stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) on a toddler under the age of two. The child, who has tuberous sclerosis complex complicated by severe drug-resistant epilepsy, underwent the intervention after medical therapy failed to control her recurrent seizures.
SEEG enabled precise localization of three epileptic foci, allowing the medical team to proceed with definitive surgical treatment during the same operative course. Two craniotomies were performed to resect the epileptogenic regions, resulting in an excellent clinical outcome and discharge home two days later.
Performing SEEG at this age required exceptional precision due to the small skull size, limited surgical corridors, and heightened safety considerations. Fewer than five comparable cases worldwide in children under two have been documented in medical literature, underscoring the rarity and complexity of the intervention.
The achievement reflects highly coordinated multidisciplinary collaboration among pediatric neurosurgery, epilepsy neurology, neurophysiology, pediatric anesthesia, specialized nursing, and critical care teams, supported by advanced stereotactic planning and navigation technologies, reinforcing KFSHโs position as a regional center of excellence in advanced pediatric epilepsy surgery.
KFSH was recently ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa and 12th globally among the worldโs top 250 academic medical centers for 2026. It is also recognized as the most valuable healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East according to Brand Finance 2025, and was listed by Newsweek among the Worldโs Best Hospitals 2025, the Worldโs Best Smart Hospitals 2026, and the Worldโs Best Specialized Hospitals 2026.
