{"id":47232,"date":"2003-09-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-09-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/09\/17\/epilepsy-program-brings-new-level-of-expertise-to-nebraska-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:43:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:43:33","slug":"epilepsy-program-brings-new-level-of-expertise-to-nebraska-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2003\/09\/17\/epilepsy-program-brings-new-level-of-expertise-to-nebraska-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Epilepsy program brings new level of expertise to Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"

After its first year of operation, the Nebraska Epilepsy Program at<\/p>\n

the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its hospital partner, The<\/p>\n

Nebraska Medical Center, has been a huge success with more than 300 epilepsy<\/p>\n

patients presently being treated.<\/p>\n

The program is under the direction of Sanjay Singh, M.D., who joined<\/p>\n

UNMCs neurological sciences department in July 2002 as assistant professor.<\/p>\n

A native of India, Dr. Singh is Nebraskas first trained epileptologist.<\/p>\n

He did his neurology residency at George Washington University in Washington,<\/p>\n

D.C., where he was chief resident, and his fellowship in epilepsy and clinical<\/p>\n

neurophysiology at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.<\/p>\n

Epilepsy is a very difficult disease, Dr. Singh said. People with<\/p>\n

epilepsy never know when they are going to have their next seizure. They<\/p>\n

must depend on other people to drive them places, and frequently they lose<\/p>\n

their jobs, because people dont understand the disease. Sometimes called<\/p>\n

a seizure disorder, epilepsy is a chronic medical condition produced by<\/p>\n

temporary changes in the electrical function of the brain, causing seizures<\/p>\n

that affect awareness, movement or sensation.<\/p>\n

Approximately 20,000 Nebraskans have epilepsy, and of that total about<\/p>\n

6,000 have intractable epilepsy and require specialized care. Because of<\/p>\n

the high demand, Dr. Singh said they are currently scheduling patients<\/p>\n

six months in advance. Exceptions are made for more complex cases.<\/p>\n

About 181,000 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed each year in the U.S.<\/p>\n

with 42,000 deaths occurring annually as a result of prolonged seizures.<\/p>\n

Its estimated epilepsy costs the country more than $12.5 billion per year.<\/p>\n

Of the 2.3 million people with epilepsy, 86.4 percent are more than 15<\/p>\n

years of age.<\/p>\n

The Nebraska Epilepsy Program is based on a comprehensive four-phase<\/p>\n

monitoring and treatment program. The cornerstone of the program is the<\/p>\n

video EEG monitoring system contained in Phase I. During the initial phase<\/p>\n

the patients are monitored as inpatients. The average length of stay is<\/p>\n

about five days with about four seizures being recorded. The state-of-the-art<\/p>\n

video monitoring system records seizures around the clock. By monitoring<\/p>\n

a patient, the team first identifies if the patient has epilepsy then determines<\/p>\n

which type of epilepsy the patient has.<\/p>\n

Phase I is the real critical part of the program, Dr. Singh says.<\/p>\n

Our monitoring equipment is state-of-the-art and allows us to make the<\/p>\n

best evaluation possible. Dr. Singh says very few centers around the country<\/p>\n

currently use this advanced monitoring system.<\/p>\n

The system calls for patients to have 28 EEG electrodes placed on their<\/p>\n

heads. Most epilepsy centers only use 20 electrodes, Dr. Singh said,<\/p>\n

but the additional electrodes allow us to be more accurate in our diagnosis.<\/p>\n

After the testing is complete, the entire treatment team meets to review<\/p>\n

data. From the findings, a treatment plan is developed and medications<\/p>\n

are prescribed. If the medication therapy fails, the patient moves on to<\/p>\n

Phase II. Patients that go beyond Phase I are potential surgical candidates.<\/p>\n

Approximately 20 to 25 percent of epilepsy patients nationally are surgical<\/p>\n

candidates.<\/p>\n

We have learned so much about the brain in the last three or four years,<\/p>\n

Dr. Singh says. Therefore, you really need to keep abreast of the advances.<\/p>\n

If you studied epilepsy 10 years ago, almost everything has changed since<\/p>\n

then.<\/p>\n

Nebraska is the only state in the United States that doesnt have its<\/p>\n

own chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation of America, the primary patient<\/p>\n

advocacy organization for families with epilepsy. Dr. Singh said several<\/p>\n

Nebraska patients are now working to start a chapter in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

In addition, UNMC is hosting a regional epilepsy conference on Sept.<\/p>\n

19 at the DoubleTree Hotel at 1616 Dodge St. Nearly 80 health professionals<\/p>\n

have signed up for the conference, which is believed to be the first epilepsy<\/p>\n

conference ever held in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

Two of the leading epilepsy experts in the country Drs. Dennis and<\/p>\n

Susan Spencer will present at the conference, which will run from noon<\/p>\n

to 5 p.m. Dr. Dennis Spencer is interim dean of Yale University School<\/p>\n

of Medicine and chairman of Yales department of neurosurgery, while Dr.<\/p>\n

Susan Spencer is professor of neurology at Yale and the former president<\/p>\n

of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Singh also will present at the conference<\/p>\n

along with John DeToledo, M.D., co-director of the International Center<\/p>\n

for Epilepsy at the University of Miami School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Prior to the conference, the Medical Center will hold a celebration<\/p>\n

event in the Durham Outpatient Center atrium to recognize the accomplishments<\/p>\n

of the first year of the Nebraska Epilepsy Program.<\/p>\n

The celebration event will begin at 10 a.m. and is open to Medical Center<\/p>\n

employees. Brief presentations will be made by: Harold M. Maurer, M.D.,<\/p>\n

UNMC chancellor; Glenn Fosdick, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical<\/p>\n

Center; Pierre Fayad, M.D., professor and chairman of the UNMC department<\/p>\n

of neurological sciences; the Spencers; Dr. Singh; and an epilepsy patient<\/p>\n

from the Omaha area who has been successfully treated at the Nebraska Epilepsy<\/p>\n

Program.<\/p>\n

Epilepsy programs are led by a trained epileptologist, who has had<\/p>\n

two years of specialized training in epilepsy. They also include a neurosurgeon<\/p>\n

who specializes in epilepsy surgery, Advanced Brain Imaging techniques<\/p>\n

(such as PET, SPECT and special MRI techniques) and a neuropsychologist.<\/p>\n

The Nebraska Epilepsy Program is the only one in Nebraska, western Iowa and South Dakota.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After its first year of operation, the Nebraska Epilepsy Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, has been a huge success with more than 300 epilepsy patients presently being treated. The program is under the direction of Sanjay Singh, M.D., who joined UNMCs neurological sciences department […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nEpilepsy program brings new level of expertise to Nebraska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After its first year of 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