Kazakh Doctors Perform First Pediatric Brain Stimulation

For the first time, surgeons at City Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 2 in Kazakhstan's Almaty city have successfully performed a deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedure on a teenager with severe motor impairments.

The 15-year-old patient suffers from a rare genetic condition-dopa-responsive dystonia type I-which was diagnosed and genetically confirmed around a year and a half ago, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

The disease caused pronounced involuntary movements, primarily affecting the left side of the body, along with the development of abnormal postures that significantly limited daily functioning.

Doctors initially pursued conservative treatment, including medication therapy and two injections of Dysport. While these measures produced short-term improvement, their effectiveness gradually declined, prompting specialists to consider a surgical option.

Given the lack of sustained results, the medical team decided to proceed with deep brain stimulation. The operation involved stereotactic bilateral implantation of deep electrodes, a complex neurosurgical procedure aimed at regulating abnormal brain signals responsible for involuntary movements.

This marked the first DBS surgery of its kind in Almaty. Previously, such pediatric procedures were performed only at the National Neurosurgery Center in Astana. The operation was carried out by a joint team led by invited neurosurgeon Talgat Yermekov from the Presidential Medical Center.

The primary goal of the surgery was to improve the patient’s quality of life by reducing involuntary movements and restoring social and everyday activity. Postoperative results confirmed the effectiveness of the procedure. According to neurologist Gulnara Kassenova, the patient’s gait has improved, and involuntary movements in the upper limbs have significantly decreased.

Doctors say the teenager has shown strong motivation to return to school and actively engage in social life, marking a major milestone in pediatric neurosurgery for the city and expanding access to advanced treatments for children with complex neurological disorders.