Epilepsy

Advances in the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of epilepsy are a major focus of Department clinical research and training. Accommodation of a broad spectrum of neuroscientific investigation is ensured by clinic and patient-monitoring facilities that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Newly updated and expanded, the Will Sally Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at UCSD Thornton Hospital offers all-digital video and electroencephalography to analyze individual seizures in each patient. This allows a tailored treatment plan, encompassing medical and surgical options as well as innovative clinical trials. With strong collaborative ties to the Department of Radiology, advances in neuroimaging techniques such as magnetoencephalography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, high-strength 3Tesla MRI, and functional MRI bring new insights into the brain's anatomic correlates of epilepsy.

The multispecialty approach to epilepsy diagnosis and treatment brings together dedicated specialists from the fields of Psychiatry, Neuropsychology, Neurosurgery, Neuropathology, Neuroradiology, and Interventional Radiology to guide patients through presurgical, surgical, and postsurgical evaluations. Primary interests of recent and ongoing studies include seizure semiology, hormones and epilepsy, use of foramen ovale electrodes in the evaluation of temporal lobe epilepsy, event-related potentials and measurement of cognitive deficits, antiepileptic drug trials, neuropsychological change after gamma knife therapy in temporal lobe epilepsy, and vagus nerve stimulation in patients with refractory partial and generalized onset seizures.

Patient Care
Epilepsy Center

Research
Vicente J. Iragui-Madoz, MD, PhD
Evelyn S. Tecoma, MD, PhD