St. Elizabeth Healthcare has opened an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) to expand care to people in Northern Kentucky living with the challenging disease of epilepsy. Nearly four percent of the population will experience the challenges of epilepsy in their lifetime.
The new EMU at St. Elizabeth Edgewood will help diagnose people with seizures and epilepsy so they can get more effective treatment and manage their complex symptoms.
Dr. Ty Brown
In the EMU, patients stay in private rooms that are customized for the safe care of people with seizures. The two-bed unit has continuous 24/7 electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring technology to record the electrical activity in the brain and heart. Continuously tracking brain activity allows proper diagnoses of seizures by pinpointing what part of the brain triggers the seizure.
“Ten percent of the population will have a seizure in their lifetime,” says Dr. Ty Brown, Neurologist with St. Elizabeth Physicians. “Seizures can be difficult to diagnose and treat. The new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit allows our team of specialists to improve the level of care and seizure management options we offer to the people in the region.”
Dr. Brown explains, “The EMU will allow us to confirm if a patient is having seizures, determine the type of seizures a patient is having, diagnose epilepsy, and adjust medications to treat the symptoms of epilepsy better and to improve his/her quality of life.”
Dr. Brown notes that determining the type of medication most effective for each patient can be time- consuming. Some seizure medications can make certain types of seizures worse, and after two medication changes, the likelihood another medication will improve seizures is only five percent. By monitoring brain activity, doctors can obtain a specific source of the seizure and recommend more effective treatment. Patients typically stay for three nights, depending on symptoms.
Gary Blank, Chief Operating Officer at St. Elizabeth said, “We are proud to expand our neurological care in the region. More than 3.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from seizures and this new unit will allow our physicians to evaluate, diagnose, and recommend effective treatment for people experiencing seizures or diagnosed with epilepsy.”
Tony Hyott, Assistant Vice President of Orthopaedics, Neurosciences and Administrative Affairs at St. Elizabeth said, “Our goal is to enhance neurologic care to the people in Northern Kentucky. With the new EMU led by Dr. Ty Brown, we will be able to monitor patients experiencing seizures at the safest, most acute level of care—24 hours a day. As a part of our vision to expand neurologic care at St. Elizabeth, we continue to look for opportunities to provide the most innovative, advanced care to our patients.”
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
