Jacksonville, FL (Sept. 29, 2008) — St. Vincent’s HealthCare is pleased to announce the opening of its new two-bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital. More than 3 million people in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy. About 200,000 new cases of seizure disorders and epilepsy are diagnosed each year.
“Epilepsy can be extremely debilitating. Potential patients who will come to the EMU typically have difficulty working, a hard time enjoying daily activities and are not allowed legally to drive,” says EMU Director and epileptologist, David Chabolla, MD. “Our goal in the EMU is to get seizures under control for these patients so that they can be productive members of society.”
Patients with poorly controlled seizures who need prolonged video-electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring are admitted to the unit to help doctors characterize the type and location of seizures and assist with diagnoses. The average length of stay is typically three to four days. “If we can identify where the seizures are coming from and find the focal area that’s triggering seizures, we might be able to surgically remove that area to increase the chances of the patient being seizure-free,” says Chabolla.
The Seizure Evaluation and Treatment Team is a multi-specialty team who evaluates and cares for the patient during their stay in the EMU.
The video EEG involves the placement of electrodes on the patient’s scalp over multiple areas of the brain to record electrical activity and check for abnormalities. Traditionally, routine EEG’s have recorded patients for only a 20-60 minute period.
EMU patients are instructed to do things that will ignite a seizure, as physicians hope to record three to four episodes while undergoing video monitoring. “We spend all of our time trying to get patients to stop having seizures, but in this setting, we try to bring them on by keeping patient up late, sleep depriving them, reducing their medications and telling them to do things we wouldn’t normally tell them to do,” Chabolla says. “Recording the seizures helps physicians know what we are treating and the best way to treat it. With improved therapy we reduce long-term risks for patients.”
Any physician with privileges at St. Luke’s can admit patients to the EMU.
Drs. Chabolla and Omar Figueroa, MD, are fellowship trained epileptologists with over 20 years combined experience in video-EEG interpretation who will assist in the evaluation and interpretation of the studies.
