Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak opens new epilepsy monitoring unit

A new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit has opened at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. This specialized inpatient unit is designed to evaluate, diagnose and treat children and adults with seizures.

"Our unit will help distinguish between false and true epileptic seizures in the pre-surgical workup of patients with difficult-to-control epilepsy," says Narayan Verma, M.D., neurologist and co-medical director, Epilepsy Monitoring Unit."This will allow us to diagnose a patient's epilepsy and develop an appropriate treatment plan.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy and seizures affect more than 3 million Americans of all ages. Nearly 200,000 new cases occur each year.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder. When clusters of brain nerve cells, or neurons, signal abnormally they can cause unusual sensations, emotions and behavior; or convulsions, muscle spasms, seizures and loss of consciousness. Epilepsy can have many causes including illness, brain damage and abnormal brain development.

Beaumont's Epilepsy Monitoring Unit offers state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities and physician consultation for adults and children. It is staffed with board-certified neurologists.

"Each patient undergoes an extended electroencephalography or EEG. This gives a‘snapshot' of the brain's electrical activity," explains Gary Trock, M.D., pediatric neurologist and co-medical director, Epilepsy Monitoring Unit."If the EEG doesn't provide adequate information, we also use video-EEG monitoring."

With expertise and modern technology, Beaumont epilepsy specialists help patients' primary care physicians diagnose and treat seizures. Patients who participate in the program must have a physician referral. Call the Clinical Neurophysiology department at 248-551-9972 for more information.

The Neurology department at Beaumont treats all neurological diseases, including stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and migraine, among others. In addition, the hospital has a Myasthenia Gravis Treatment Center; a Neurology Clinic; a Neuromuscular Clinic for children; neuroradiology; and clinical neurophysiology. Beaumont, Royal Oak is included on the U.S. News& World Report 2008 list of the"Top 50" hospitals in the country for neurology/neurosurgery, ranking 36th.