What You Need To Know
The Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center recently opened the new Dr. Robert H. and Mary Ellen Harris Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, part of the academic medical center’s comprehensive Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder Program. The opening was made possible due to the extraordinary generosity of Mrs. Harris and the Golden Dome Foundation. The Program offers specialized evaluation and treatment for adults with all types of seizure disorders and access to a team of epilepsy experts who provide advanced surgical, nonsurgical, and supportive therapies.
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world affecting about 50 million people and causing them to have recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Seizures are brief episodes of involuntary movement that can affect the entire body or just part of it. They can also cause loss of consciousness and control of bladder or bowel function, among other disorders.
The new patient monitoring unit is part of Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s Laboratory Accreditation Board of ABRET-accredited electroencephalogram (EEG) lab and includes four dedicated, private rooms. EEG is a medical test that measures the electrical activity of the brain and is used to diagnose epilepsy, sleep disorders, and brain tumors.
These specialists include; Shabbar Danish, M.D., FAANS, chair, neurosurgery, JSUMC; Rajesh Sachdeo, M.D., senior epileptologist; Rahul Guha, M.D., epileptologist; Jasdeep Hundal, Psy.D, neuropsychologist; Catherine Atkins, Ph.D; Dana Dolce, AGACNP, BC, Neuromodulation Program Manager; Ruby Gallipani, R.N., MHA, Epilepsy Clinical advocate; Elise A. Miller, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, Epilepsy nurse practitioner, and Leanne Matthews, R.EEG T., MBA, Regional Neurodiagnostic manager.
Specifically designed for adults, the rooms are equipped with the latest technologies, including ceiling-mounted cameras and EEG machines, allowing for close monitoring, accurate epilepsy diagnosis and identification of the area of the brain where seizures are originating.
Patients with epilepsy that has not responded to medication have access to a full range of advanced neurosurgical treatment options, including:
- Focal Resection
- Hemispherectomy and hemispherotomy
- Corpus callosotomy
- Stereotactic radiosurgery
- Neurostimulator implantation, such as vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), responsive neurostimulation (RNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS)
- Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)
In addition to the epilepsy program, The Neuroscience Institute at JSUMC is home to specialists in numerous neurological diseases and conditions. They provide diagnostic, medical and surgical treatments at JSUMC for multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, essential tremor and other movement disorders, pediatric neurology, headaches and migraines, sleep medicine and neuro-oncology, among others.