Manipal: Unique and state-of-the-art facility to evaluate people with epilepsy. The Comprehensive Epilepsy Program of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal has acquired the state-of-the-art facilities to undertake pre-surgical evaluation and epilepsy surgery. The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU), which was inaugurated by Dr. H.S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of the Manipal University in presence of Dr Poornima Blaiga Dean KMC Manipal and Dr ( Col) M Dayananda, Medical Superintendent and COO, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, Dr K Radhakrishnan, Professor and Head Dept of Neurology and Dr Girish Menon, Head Dept of NeuroSurgery, Kasturba Hospital Manipal.

Dr K Radhakrishnan, Head Dept of Neurology said that “The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) has three long-term video-EEG monitoring units. Here patients with uncontrolled seizures are monitored for several days, 24X7, for recording their seizures and to obtain electro-clinical correlation and to localize the site of seizure origin”. If the site of seizure origin corresponds with the site of lesion in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the patient is a good candidate for epilepsy surgery with a seizure-free postoperative outcome, Dr Radhakrishnan added.

In spite of addition of several antiepileptic drugs in recent years, nearly 30% of patients do not achieve satisfactory seizure control. Uncontrolled seizures adversely affect the quality of the life of the individual. Educational, occupational and recreational activities are affected. In addition, people with uncontrolled seizures at are risk of sudden death several fold more than people without epilepsy. A proportion of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy can be cured of their seizures by surgery. However, before considering epilepsy surgery, two requisites should be fulfilled – precise localization of the focus in the brain from where the seizures are originating, and proof that resecting that area will not cause any neurological deficit.

Epilepsy program has also the expertise and equipment for cortical stimulation and mapping to ensure that during surgery no unanticipated neurological deficit occurs. In carefully selected patients, epilepsy surgery is very successful; 70%-80% patients become seizure-free and in half of them, antiepileptic drugs can also be gradually discontinued.

Dr (Col) M Dayananda said that “Comprehensive Epilepsy Program of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, comprise a well-coordinated team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuro-radiologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and medico-social workers. They act together to provide the best care for people with epilepsy.