Seizures and Epilepsy

- - Quick Browse Diseases & Conditions - - Brain Tumors Cognitive disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease) Headache Movement Disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease) Multiple Sclerosis Nerve & Muscle Diseases Seizures & Epilepsy Sleep Disorders Stroke

Overview of Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common, chronic medical condition present in approximately 1 out of every 200 people. Epilepsy sufferers have (or are at risk of having) recurrent seizures. Some seizures are mild and result in a brief staring spell or slight body movements. Other seizures are more severe, such as convulsion.

For many people, the cause of epilepsy cannot be determined. In others, a brain lesion such as a scar, stroke or tumor may be the cause, or there may be a genetic predisposition to seizures.

Lahey Clinic's Epilepsy Program

At Lahey Clinic, all of our neurologists treat epilepsy, but several members of the neurology staff have additional fellowship training and expertise in treating complicated epilepsy cases. Seizures produce abnormal electrical activity in the brain and can therefore often be diagnosed and localized by an EEG (electroencephalogram). MRI scans also help to find abnormalities in the brain that cause seizures, and SPECT and PET scans may provide additional diagnostic information, as well.

Our inpatient video-EEG monitoring unit is used to evaluate patients with epileptic or other spells. Patients are admitted to the hospital, medication doses are often reduced, and seizures are recorded by both video and EEG. Analysis of the episodes helps us to determine whether the seizures are indeed epileptic, and if so, what type they are and where in the brain they arise. Our epilepsy specialists use these tools to make appropriate diagnoses and provide our patients with the best possible treatment.

Epilepsy Treatment

Once properly diagnosed, approximately two-thirds of epilepsy patients can be successfully treated with medication. Use of newer epileptic medications and knowledge of epilepsy-specific problems (related to age, gender and other complicating medical conditions) helps us to provide optimum care for each patient.

For the one-third of patients who do not respond adequately to medication, surgery may be helpful. Most seizures come from one small area of the brain. If that area can be located, and it can be demonstrated that this area is no longer serving any useful purpose, it can be removed surgically, and this could significantly improve a patient's chance of becoming seizure-free. Using MRI scanning, MRI spectroscopy and, for some patients, insertion of electrodes on the surface of or within the brain, the seizures can often be located and the seizure focus removed.

When surgical resection is not possible, a patient may benefit from a vagus nerve stimulator, a pacemaker that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck. This nerve connects with the brain and, when stimulated, can reduce the frequency and intensity of seizures. The Neurology Department works in close collaboration with G. Rees Cosgrove, MD, and Jeffrey Arle, MD, PhD, of the Neurosurgery Department to utilize these procedures.

The Neurology Department epilepsy team includes Joel Oster, MD; Paul T. Gross, MD; May Bellisle, RN; Dana Penney, PhD; and Rosemary MacDonald, REEGT.

Click here for a list of epilepsy resources.