Objective:

Background:

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic conditions in the world, characterized by recurrent seizures. Surgical treatment for epilepsy and other neurological disorders is a method to optimize the quality of life of patients, all thanks to the work of Dr. Juhn Atsushi Wada. Wada examined the brain and underlying mechanism of epilepsy and developed procedures to enhance outcomes for his patients. Today the eponymous procedure, the Wada test, is widely used as a tool for minimizing the negative side effects of epileptic brain surgery.

Design/Methods:

A literature search of articles chronicling the personal and professional life of Juhn Atsushi Wada was conducted via PubMed and Google Scholar. The review focused on Dr. Wada’s work on epilepsy and the development of the carotid amytal injection, today known as the Wada test.

Results:

In 1924, Juhn Atsushi Wada was born in Tokyo, Japan where he eventually attended Hokkaido Imperial University for his medical education. After completing his medical degree in 1947, Dr. Wada began his neurology and neurosurgery career in a war-torn Japan at the Hokkaido Imperial University Hospital. During this period, he focused on treating patients while investigating methods to alleviate negative side effects of neurological intervention and mitigate seizure generalization. He developed the Wada test, a sodium amytal injection, and published his landmark manuscript in 1949 that featured the observed benefits of the procedure and its suggested mechanisms of epilepsy. Wada would later move to North America, where he would disseminate his technique and lead the field in treating and understanding epilepsy.

Conclusions:

The significant contributions of Juhn Atsushi Wada earned him recognition as a leader in the field of neurosurgery and epilepsy neurology.