Epilepsy Center
Tests and Diagnosis
The Epilepsy Center offers comprehensive epilepsy diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation services. The Center uses both time-tested and groundbreaking diagnostic tools to identify the causes, type, and severity of your epilepsy. These tools include beginning with the least invasive and most common:
Routine Electroencephalography (EEG)
By recording your brain's electrical activity, an EEG can determine if abnormal brainwaves—aids in diagnosing seizures and other neurologic disorders—are present.
Ambulatory EEG
By wearing electrodes at home for 48-72 hours, your team can monitor and capture your brain activity during typical spells/seizures, allowing your care team to diagnose and effectively treat you.
Structural Neuroimaging
A primary diagnostic service of the Epilepsy Center, structural neuroimaging, detects lesions, and biochemical dysfunction that cause epilepsy.
Functional Imaging
Functional imaging tests such as positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional MRI (fMRI) scans map your blood flow, energy use, and membrane receptors in specific brain regions.
Neuropsychological Testing
Targeted testing measures the severity of memory loss and other cognitive challenges sometimes related to epilepsy.
Inpatient Video EEG
If your seizures have not responded well to medical treatment, your physician may gain a clearer understanding through inpatient video EEG. It may help clinicians pinpoint the brain's affected area and determine the most effective course of treatment.
Because a high degree of expertise is required to interpret this test's findings correctly, hospitalization is required for testing. While spending 3-5 days in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU), anti-seizure medications are reduced, allowing for observation of your typical seizures or spells in a safe, monitored environment.
If you've been previously misdiagnosed with epilepsy, video-EEG monitoring can point the way to a more appropriate and effective treatment plan. When epilepsy is present, an accurate diagnosis can lead to the most effective treatment for the observed seizure type.
Video-EEG monitoring may also be performed as part of the pre-surgical workup if your seizures do not respond to antiepileptic medication. This allows our physicians to determine if options beyond medication (such as surgery or neurostimulation devices) would be suitable for treating your epilepsy.
Because a high degree of expertise is required to interpret this test's findings correctly, hospitalization is required for testing. While spending 3-5 days in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU), anti-seizure medications are reduced, allowing for observation of your typical seizures or spells in a safe, monitored environment.
If you've been previously misdiagnosed with epilepsy, video-EEG monitoring can point the way to a more appropriate and effective treatment plan. When epilepsy is present, an accurate diagnosis can lead to the most effective treatment for the observed seizure type.
Video-EEG monitoring may also be performed as part of the pre-surgical workup if your seizures do not respond to antiepileptic medication. This allows our physicians to determine if options beyond medication (such as surgery or neurostimulation devices) would be suitable for treating your epilepsy.