Epilepsy Center

Epilepsy monitoring unit

Our Dallas Epilepsy Center is equipped with long-term monitoring beds, each with a 24-hour video EEG monitoring system. Admission to the monitoring unit allows for a patient’s epilepsy seizures to be recorded, characterized and localized. Our multidisciplinary team will attempt to determine the cause of the seizures, if possible, and will use the available technology to establish a localization of the area of the brain where the seizure begins.

The epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) features:

• Private rooms
• An electroencephalogram (EEG)
• A fully computerized digital recording system for video and sound, monitored by EEG technicians and nurses with specialized training in epilepsy treatment
• Capabilities to record, evaluate, diagnose and treat seizures in patients of all ages

The information obtained from this monitoring allows the epilepsy team to recommend therapy to treat a seizure disorder. This may include medication, lifestyle changes, vagus nerve stimulator or surgical treatment.

Our staff watch the video monitors at all times. Every day, the video and EEG records are reviewed. The results obtained from our multidisciplinary team provide the basis for an epilepsy treatment plan that may consist of continued observation, prescribing a new seizure medication or modifying present medication regimen, as well as possible surgical intervention. The doctor discusses the findings and the ongoing plan, which may include going home sooner or staying longer than originally predicted.