The LifeBridge Health Brain & Spine Institute features an inpatient Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Sinai Hospital that allows doctors to observe and record the brain waves of patients experiencing seizures or seizure-like behaviors in a comfortable, relaxed setting. Patients stay in a private room equipped with minimally intrusive medical and video monitoring equipment. By observing the patient's episodes and pinpointing the source of the seizures, Sinai doctors can find better ways to treat patients who may not be responding to medical therapies.

Symptoms of epilepsy or related disorders may include the following:

• Seizures
• Confusion
• Loss of consciousness
• Hallucinations
• Unusual movements in sleep

If you or someone you know exhibits any of these symptoms, you or the other person should be seen by a physician as soon as possible. In addition to epilepsy, conditions treated within the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit also include migraines, mini-strokes and non-epileptic seizures.

New Treatment Options

Drugs

With current medication and treatment, most people can have their seizures relatively well controlled. In the last 15 years, researchers have developed promising new drugs for treating epilepsy. But finding the right drug for a patient can be problematic. Some drugs have harmful medical, cognitive and behavioral side effects and can even worsen some seizures. A proper diagnosis is a critical first step to developing a successful treatment plan. As a program of the Brain and Spine Institute, the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit's epileptologists work in tandem with other physicians, giving a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to health care.

Surgical Options Available

Surgical remedies often offer the best hope for controlling seizures when medications fail to stop seizure activity. If doctors can determine the precise location in the brain from which the seizures are originating, removal of the malfunctioning area can often control the seizures. Often, an approved surgical device called the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) can effectively reduce the number of seizures and sometimes stop them altogether. The information obtained during a stay in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit is essential in determining if a patient is candidate for one of these procedures.

About the Unit

Our faculty consists of highly skilled experts in neurological health and provides comprehensive neurophysiology services, including routine and video EEG for outpatients, evoked potentials, intraoperative monitoring and inpatient video EEG.

Our Team

Saurabh R. Sinha, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Dr. Sinha is a neurologist with post-graduate training from the Johns Hopkins University in the treatment of epilepsy. His interests include the surgical treatment of epilepsy, dietary therapies for epilepsy, and the interaction between sleep and epilepsy.

Perry Jay Foreman, M.D., Ph.D., is a neurologist in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. He earned his degree in medicine from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Dr. Foreman's special interests include epilepsy in elderly patients and advances in the genetics of epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder in which nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses at a higher than normal rate, causing seizures that can last seconds or minutes. An estimated 2.7 million people live with epilepsy in the United States. Every year, 181,000 Americans will develop seizures and epilepsy for the first time. Family history, head injuries, alcohol withdrawal, infections and brain abnormalities are all possible causes. Unfortunately, doctors can find no cause in about half the cases. But new treatment options are allowing patients to live fuller, happier and seizure-free lives.

For more information about epilepsy and the Epilepsy Center you can view our brochures online: Epilepsy Center, Saurabh R. Sinha, M.D., Ph.D., and Perry Jay Foreman, M.D., Ph.D.