EPILEPSY

EPILEPSY

The term “epilepsy” is usually restricted to cases with a tendency for recurrent seizures. The challenge is to identify the disease that explains the symptom. Often the underlying disease is epilepsy, but at other times it may be a nonepileptic disorder.

Treatment options

One-third of epilepsy patients need some treatment other than medications, which is usually the first option.

If medications stop working, patients need to be evaluated for surgery or other procedures at an epilepsy center, which has an epilepsy monitoring unit that records brain waves during seizures to determine where they are coming from and to confirm the diagnosis of epilepsy.

Get an MRI of the brain to find anything that would explain the seizures.

Determine if the lesion or scar is in an area of the brain where surgery could affect functions such as speech, sight, sensation and memory.

Sources: Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center/Dr. Imad Najm, center director