Epilepsy
Level 4 Epilepsy Center
Albany Medical Center's adult Epilepsy Program is a member of the prestigious National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC), receiving a Level 4 designation, the highest NAEC offers. This high rating indicates the center offers the most advanced medical and surgical diagnostic and treatment options for epilepsy.
Each year, we perform more than 2,000 electroencephalograms (EEG) and evaluate more than 400 patients in our inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) for improved medical care or surgical cure. We offer expert and global management of this complex brain disorder for adults and children.
At the heart of our epilepsy program is the inpatient epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU), which provides 12 fixed beds for continuous digital video and EEG monitoring. Six beds are located on the adult neurology floor and six beds on the pediatric floor. Additional monitoring equipment is available for other hospitalized patients, including those in the Neuro ICU.
The EMU operates 24-hours-a-day and is staffed by specially trained epilepsy nurses and technologists. Each year, we perform more than 2,000 electroencephalograms (EEG) and evaluate more than 400 patients in the EMU for improved medical care or surgical cure.
Inpatient epilepsy monitoring is a specialized test in which people with known or possible epilepsy spend one or more days in a special part of the hospital designed to record seizures. The test has two major purposes:
- To determine if symptoms are due to epilepsy or another condition.
- To identify the precise brain region causing seizures in people who may benefit from surgical treatment for epilepsy.
There are more than 30 FDA-approved medications for the treatment of epilepsy. Medical treatment is the most common form of therapy for people with epilepsy, many of whom are seizure-free.
When medications are not effective, we provide the following surgical options:
- Standard temporal lobe resections
- Selective amygdalohippocampectomy
- Temporal and extra-temporal neocortical resections
- Lesionectomy of tumor or other malformation
- Corpus callosotomy
- Vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) implantation
- Responsive Neurostimulator (RNS) implantation
- Deep Brain Stimulator (DBS) implantation
- Brain mapping and corticography of eloquent cortex to spare function
- Intracranial EEG monitoring
- Robot assisted implantation of electrodes for seizure monitoring
- MRI guided laser ablation therapy