Epilepsy

The Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center is comprised of adult and pediatric epileptologists, along with an integrated team of other epilepsy specialists and trained healthcare professionals. The Center is dedicated to the evaluation and care of adults, adolescents, and children with epilepsy, with the goal of helping patients gain control of seizures and optimize their quality of life. 

Multidisciplinary Team of Experts

Our integrated, multidisciplinary team of specialists includes:

• Adult and pediatric epileptologists (specially-trained neurologists)
• Neurosurgeons
• Neuroradiologists
• Nurse practitioners
• Neuropsychologists and psychiatrists
• Electroencephalography (EEG) technicians

Conditions We Treat

• Epilepsy
• Generalized epilepsy
• Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
• Partial epilepsy
• Seizure disorder

We have particular expertise in serving patients with particularly complicated issues, such as:

• Difficult to control seizures
• Diagnostic uncertainty
• Children and adolescents with epilepsy
• Pregnancy and women’s health
• Mood or memory disorders

Diagnostic Services We Offer

We offer a full complement of advanced diagnostic testing, including the Center's inpatient adult and pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs), which combine video and electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring of patients to determine epilepsy type, frequency, and location of seizure onset in the brain. 

Monitoring results are often supplemented by other diagnostic procedures, including MRI, SPECT, and PET brain imaging, Wada and evoked potential testing, as well as neurophysiological and neuropsychological evaluations.

We also provide in-depth evaluations for surgical treatment of epilepsy, as warranted, since approximately half of patients whose epilepsy is not controlled by medications are candidates for epilepsy surgery that could cure their seizures.

Treatments We Offer

• Anticonvulsant drugs
• Epilepsy surgery
• Intraoperative monitoring
• Modified Atkins diet