Aconcagua Expedition: only 1,112 meters to go!
The view at sunset from Nido de Condores.
Montreal, January 21, 2010 – Dr. Alain Bouthillier, neurosurgeon at the CHUM, is on his way to reach the 6,962-metre (22,841 feet) summit of the Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Andes mountain range. Two days ago, he reached the Nido de Condores (the Condor’s Nest), at an elevation of 5,580 meters. Dr. Bouthillier’s expedition is intended to raise public awareness about epilepsy and raise funds for further research on this illness.
Dr. Bouthillier is a member of the team that’s dedicated to the treatment of epilepsy at the CHUM. With neurologist Dr. Dang Khoa Nguyen, he is one of the principal authors of a study published in the June 2009 edition of the Journal of Neurosurgery on treatment of refractory epilepsy (a form of the illness resistant to medication) through microsurgery of the insular region of the brain. This surgery had been discontinued since the 1950s because it was considered too dangerous, but it has recently been performed with success, using modern microsurgical techniques supported by better understanding of brain anatomy. One of the patients Dr. Bouthillier operated on was a young woman suffering from regular epileptic seizures. She had been forced to give up hope of becoming pregnant, due to the heavy medication she had to take. After her surgery, she was able to stop taking anticonvulsants. Since then, not only has she had no more seizures but she has recently given birth to her first child.
To help Dr Bouthillier to raise funds, make a donation online