The Southside Hospital Institute of Neuroscience has established an epilepsy/video EEG (electroencephalograph) monitoring program to accurately map a patient’s brain to track epileptic seizures.

Under the leadership of Bhupinder Anand, MD, the program’s director at Southside, this latest service is part of a full range of diagnostics that includes physical exams, computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) to define seizure classification in patients and refer them for pharmacological or surgical treatment.

Dr. Anand explained that approximately one percent of the population suffers from epileptic seizures, and that a quarter of that one percent “suffers from some form of epilepsy but don’t know that they do.”

“Epileptic symptoms are usually first revealed through ‘spells’ or external behavior outside the range of what we’d traditionally consider to be ‘normal,” Dr. Anand explained. They can include one or any combination of the following factors:

• Irritability
  
• Crying spells
  
• Loss of consciousness (black-outs)
  
• Falling asleep at inappropriate times
  
• Repetition of awkward behaviors (twitching)
  
• Staring spells (daydreaming fixations)
  
• Trembling movements
  

A more complete diagnosis can be realized through a 24-72 hour video- EEG monitoring session, which helps map what’s occurring inside the brain so that physicians can isolate and treat what is causing the outward behavior.

“Seizures may be provoked by antiepileptic drug withdrawal, exercise or sleep deprivation,” Dr. Anand said. “Our ability to provide continuous video and EEG recordings for 24 hours or more helps us monitor and record the occurrence of seizures and outline a course of treatment.”

Southside’s program has the capability to distinguish different types of epileptic seizures, Dr. Anand said, stress ing that different seizures require different medical therapies.

“We can detect unrecognized seizures in patients and provide information about seizure frequency,” Dr. Anand explained. “Also in an inpatient EEG seizure monitoring unit, adverse effects can be identified and drug levels obtained so that ineffective drugs can be quickly discontinued.”

With a wide variety of treatment options from conservative management to advanced surgical approaches, Dr. Anand said that by using different medications and vagus nerve stimulation to repair or modify structural defects on the brain, “we are able to utilize pharmacological therapy to stop symptoms before more invasive means are required.”

Should surgical means be required, Southside has the expertise and technology to assess and recommend the appropriate course of treatment for each individual case.

“We help patients with epilepsy understand the disease, learn about the latest therapies and make informed treatment decisions so they can gain control of their illness to maximize quality of life,.” Dr. Anand said.

The highest incidence of epilepsy occurs in the elderly and the young. On the south shore of Suffolk county, over 2,300 people are discharged from hospitals with a seizure diagnosis each year. For more information, please call 631-968-7468.

Media Contacts: Mike Sacca 631-968-3477 and Brian Mulligan 516-465-2618