A toddler with a rare neurological disorder has had half her brain removed after she suffered up to 50 seizures a day.

Katie Verdecchia, 2, has Aicardi syndrome – an inherited condition that means the structure connecting the two sides of her brain are missing.

Her parents Maryalicia and Brian from Portland, Oregon, first noticed there was something wrong when their daughter began to experience short spasms in April 2008 just a month after her birth.

Tests revealed the devastating news that Katie Jeanne had the incredibly rare Aicardi syndrome, which is thought to only affect 500 people in the world.

The condition causes daily seizures and hampers development. Doctors also detected lesions at the back of one of her retinas.

Katie was treated with a number of medications to try and reduce the seizures and improve her motor function. However, none of them were particularly effective and the youngster was continuously in and out of hospital.

But her parents, who tried for years before conceiving their only child, were encouraged by their daughter’s progress as she learned how to walk and communicate via hand signals.

However, at the end of August this year the couple were told the brave youngster was having 24 hour debilitating seizures and her chance for death had increased.

In September their daughter’s neurologist from the University of California Medical Center suggested performing a hemispherectomy – where they would remove the right half of her brain.

They agreed after they were told the drastic surgery would offer the best hope to help her live a more normal life and reduce her risk of sudden unexplained death.

Katie underwent the eight-hour operation on November 22 where a team led by neurosurgeon Gary Mathern disconnected the connections between the two sides of her brain and removed the centre of the right half.