New treatment options for epilepsy

March 25, 2011 - PRLog -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One out of every 100 people suffers from epilepsy. In fact, epilepsy affects more than 20,000 in Kansas City and the surrounding region alone. That’s more than Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis combined.

Epilepsy is a medical condition that causes unprovoked seizures that affect a variety of mental and physical functions. “Although clinical symptoms seem chaotic and disorderly, seizures are caused by abnormal brain discharges that are too organized,” said John Croom, M.D., Ph.D., an epileptologist at Saint Luke’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. “The brain is composed of billions of nerve cells that communicate with each other by sending electrical signals. At any given moment, depending on what a person is doing, some nerve cells are quieter than others and others are more active. When all the cells in a certain section of the brain or the entire brain start firing in a synchronized fashion, it causes a seizure.”

Seizures can cause symptoms that range from full-body convulsions to lip-smacking or blank staring depending upon which part of the brain is affected. “For example, if a seizure affects the part of the brain that controls vision, the patient might have visual symptoms,” said Dr. Croom. Other symptoms may manifest as loss of consciousness, blocked communication, clouded awareness or jerking movements. “In adults the more common seizure type is what we call a complex partial seizure where there is alteration in awareness and the patient appears confused and is unresponsive and may fumble or pick at his or her clothes. They do not fall to the ground and do not have any convulsive movements,” said Dr. Croom.

The good news is that advanced treatment options are available. Saint Luke’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, the area’s only adult Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, has the resources and expertise to offer patients a range of treatment options. In accordance with its mission - no seizures, no side effects - up to 90 percent of patients who were unresponsive to antiepileptic medication are now seizure-free after surgery at Saint Luke’s.

“For patients with seizures who aren’t responding to medication, we use continuous video electroencephalographic studies (EEGs) along with other tests to identify where the seizures are originating. If we are able to pinpoint the area and if it’s in a region that is safe to remove, we can do a resection of a part of the brain to remove the seizure source,” said Dr. Croom.

For patients who are not candidates or choose not to undergo resective brain surgery, vagal nerve stimulation is another option. The vagal nerve stimulator is an implanted device that can control seizures with small electrical pulses.

The National Association of Epilepsy Centers recommends that patients seek specialized care if medication hasn’t worked to control their seizures within three months under a primary physician’s care and within 12 months under a neurologist’s care.

For more information about epilepsy and services offered at Saint Luke’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, call 816-531-4080 or visit http://www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org.

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Saint Luke's Health System based in Kansas City, Mo., consists of 11 area hospitals in northwest Missouri and eastern Kansas, and several primary and specialty care practices. We provide a range of inpatient, outpatient and home care services.