Woman Wakes From Three-Month Coma After Experimental Brain Surgery

A 33-year-old woman, identified only as Tali, has awoken from a three-month coma following a rare and complex medical procedure at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. Tali had been healthy and active, raising four children and working full-time, until she suddenly developed a fever and then experienced severe, intractable epileptic seizures.

Her condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was hospitalized. Despite extensive treatments, including high-dose anti-epileptic drugs, biological therapies, and a vagus nerve stimulator, her seizures continued. Doctors placed her in an induced coma and on a ventilator to try and control the electrical activity in her brain.

After initial treatments proved unsuccessful, Tali was transferred to Hadassah Ein Kerem, a hospital known for handling complex cases. A team of specialists performed invasive brain mapping, inserting thin electrodes deep into her brain to pinpoint the source of the seizures. This mapping identified abnormal electrical activity in multiple areas of both hemispheres.

Based on these findings, surgeons performed a unique surgery to implant a deep brain stimulation (DBS) system. Four electrodes were placed in specific deep brain regions to deliver electrical impulses, disrupting the abnormal activity. This technology is typically used for movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, making its application in Tali's case highly unusual.

Within days of activating the DBS system, Tali's abnormal brain activity significantly decreased. Doctors gradually withdrew her sedation, and she regained consciousness, recognizing her family and responding to her surroundings. She has now begun a long rehabilitation process focusing on physical, cognitive, and functional recovery.

"This was an extremely rare and extreme case with very low chances of recovery," said senior neurosurgeon Dr. Sami Hayman. "It was a joint effort by dozens of staff from various fields who did not give up." Her husband described the ordeal as "very difficult" and called her awakening a "miracle," expressing hope for her full recovery for the sake of their children.