He has developed a surgical method to stop seizures
Achievements

He has developed a surgical method to stop seizures

Dr. Demitre Serletis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where he is developing an Epilepsy Surgery Program in conjunction with the Department of Neurology. He is also an accomplished scientist with an extensive number of publications in the field of epilepsy dynamics.

A few months ago he became particulary lovable among his patiens, and mostly to Charles Gossow, a man who, in the age of 15, had a seizure at school in Southern California. Doctors diagnosed Arachnoid Cyst, it was drained, and Charles said things got better.  But about 15 years laters, the nightmare returned. He had another surgery, everything seemed okay for about 20 years, then moved to Arkansas, the seizures came back, that’s when he decided to go to UAMS in Little Rock, in order to see a doctor that would help him. That doctor would be Dr. Demitre Serletis, one of UAMS’ Neurosurgeon.

We weren’t sure whether to call it a benign cyst or something more complex than that,” said Dr. Serletis. Located on the right frontal lobe of his brain, about the size of a lemon, Dr. Serlitis suggested having another surgery. But this time using a unique feature, bringing in a high resolution microscope along with a navigation system much like a GPS to find the walls of the lesion. “We re-opened the same opening that he had shaved his hair, opened the scalp itself, we removed the plate of bone that came back afterwards held in place with titanium plates.”

 

But Dr. Serletis says he recognized one clear thing that had never been done before. “He had never had the membrane itself removed. It had appeared to have been open multiple times in the past,” said Dr. Serletis. That move seems to have helped Charles a lot. “Right now it’s not there,” added Gossow. And his constant seizures are gone, leaving Charles feeling confident and thankful for not having to undergo a fifth surgery.

 

Demitre is the son of Apostolos Serletis**, a Greek economics and Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary. Apostolos Serletis lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his wife Aglaia and they also have a daughter, Anna, who is a Cardiologist in Calgary.

 

In 2003, he received his medical degree from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Dr. Serletis also earned his doctorate in physiology and biomedical engineering in 2010 from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. He completed his residency training in neurosurgery in 2012 at the University of Toronto, and has also completed a fellowship in adult/pediatric epilepsy surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, U.S.A.

He is currently a Fellow member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is also active with the American Epilepsy Society, the Canadian League Against Epilepsy, etc. In 2012, he was named one of Greek America Foundation’s top “Forty Under 40,” in large part because of his innovative neuroengineering research on epilepsy and seizure dynamics.

 

Academically, Serletis is amongst the best published Canadian neurosurgeons in his age group. He has published over 20 articles in professional journals, presented at over 25 conferences in Canada, the United States and in Europe and has received over 22 different awards and honors.

COMMENTS

  Comments: 1

  1. Dean Bauerlein

    @epilepsydoc Demitre, can you please remove the VNS DEVICE ( 1st adult that you implanted SENTIVA model 1000) in me on November 18th, 2019. It’s not working! It’s causing EXTREME breathing issues & sleep apnea. I’ve been fitted for a mouth guard from my dentist & it’s not working whatsoever. My breathing is getting worse day by day, I need this removed ASAP. I don’t want it shut off, I would like it removed!
    Thanks.
    Dean Bauerlein


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