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UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
COMPREHENSIVE EPILEPSY CENTER
The Adult Epilepsy Service of the Department of Neurology provides a comprehensive, team-oriented approach to the diagnosis and treatment of seizure disorders. We specialize in caring for those patients whose seizures are difficult to control. A full range of individualized diagnostic and treatment options is offered.
We suddenly have an unexpected open position in our fellowship program. See information below:
Starting/ending date: July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006.
This is a one–year accredited fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology in the EEG/Epilepsy track (6 months EEG, 6 months epilepsy service) at the University of Chicago, Department of Neurology Adult Epilepsy Center. Applicants must have completed an accredited residency in Neurology.
Please send CV and 3 letters of reference to:
John S. Ebersole, M.D.
Director, Clinical Neurophysiology
c/o Marla Scofield
Education Coordinator
The University of Chicago Adult Epilepsy Center
5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2030
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773-702-0151
Fax: 773-834-3662
Email: mscofiel@neurology.bsd.uchicago.edu
Adult Epilepsy Service Team
Neurologists
John Ebersole, M.D. – Director
James Tao, MD
Neurosurgeon
Robert Erickson, M.D.
Program Manager
Susan Hawes-Ebersole R.EEG T.
EEG Technologist
Lillian Zhao
John Finkbeiner
Secretary
Angela Kadisak
Neuropsychologists
Maureen Lacy, Ph.D.
Services Provided
Patients are initially seen for evaluation and subsequently followed in outpatient clinics that are conveniently scheduled three days each week at the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine of the University of Chicago Hospitals. Diagnostic services offered include outpatient digital EEG recording, outpatient ambulatory EEG monitoring, state-of-the-art inpatient video EEG recording and analyses in the new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit of the Bernard Mitchell Hospital, high resolution CT and MR imaging, and neuropsychological testing. Treatments offered include anti-epileptic medication management, epilepsy surgery, and vagal nerve stimulation.
Do You Need an Initial Evaluation or a Second Opinion?
Common Questions and Problems Addressed by the Adult Epilepsy Service
Diagnosis:
1. Are my spells really seizures?
2. Do I really need to take anti-epileptic drugs?
Seizure Classification:
1. What type of seizures do I have?
2. What might have caused my seizures?
3. Do my seizures come from only one part of my brain or from several?
Medication Management:
1. My seizures are not controlled. Am I on the correct medication?
2. Am I taking the correct dose?
3. Are there other medicines that would be better for me or cause fewer side effects?
Surgical Therapy:
1. My seizures remain uncontrolled despite numerous medications. Is surgery an option for me?"
Alternative Therapy:
1. If I am not a surgical candidate, are there other treatment options beyond drugs?"
How to Contact Us
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call us at (773) 834-8956 or (773) 834-7911
Fax 773-834-4800
E-mail – Angela Kadisak or Susan Hawes-Ebersole
Information Needed for your Initial Clinic Visit
If possible, please bring the following to your first clinic appointment:
- Past medical history summary (from your current doctor)
- Medication history: list of anti-epileptic drugs you have tried
- Previous EEG reports (actual tracings, if available)
- MRI/CT reports (actual films, if available)
About Epilipsy and Symptoms
Epilepsy is characterized by repeated seizures that may occur as often as several times a day, or as infrequently as once every few months. Normally, millions of tiny electrical charges pass between nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body to control the body's many functions. Epileptic seizures are caused by unusual and strong bursts of electrical energy in the brain.
Epilepsy can develop at any age in children or adults. It may be triggered by a structural abnormality in the brain, brain injury, an infection, or other factors. In the majority of cases, however, the cause cannot be determined.
Diagnosis
In the brain, epilepsy appears as abnormal or erratic bouts of electrical energy. Standard diagnostic techniques include electroencephalography (EEG), which tracks electrical activity in the patient's brain. The source of epileptic seizures differs within each patient's brain.
Significant technological advances have greatly improved the diagnostic accuracy for people with epilepsy. University of Chicago scientists and neurologists pioneered multimodal imaging techniques which provide a detailed look at electrical activity inside the brain to pinpoint the source of abnormal activity. By combining several different imaging techniques (EEG with electrodes placed on the patient's brain, plus functional MRI and glucose metabolism), multimodal imaging enables physicians to create a "map" of the brain's electrical activity. Used during surgery, this map is imposed onto the patient's brain to direct the neurosurgeon where to cut and where not to cut. Advanced imaging enables neurosurgeons to fine tune their surgical accuracy to within millimeters (hundredths of an inch).
Positron emission tomography (PET), functional MRI and magneto encephalography (MEG) also add tremendous detail about the brain's function, structure, and physiological activity. Radiologists here combine PET (information on brain function), CT (information on brain anatomy) and MRI (structural information ) to create a composite, computerized, three-dimensional view of the brain's anatomy and functional areas. Using technology developed at the University of Chicago Hospitals, experts can look at a three-dimensional model of the patient's brain, rotate the image, "open" it, and probe inside to plan the neurosurgical procedure.
An inpatient unit is scheduled to open that will be used to monitor epilepsy patients and more effectively diagnose seizure conditions. This is especially important in determining whether surgery is advisable.
Treatment
Epilepsy can be effectively controlled with anti-convulsant medications in approximately 70 percent of all patients. Some patients enjoy total freedom from epileptic seizures, while others experience fewer seizures with medication. Quality-of-life issues are considered when evaluating the success of a particular treatment. People who previously suffered from multiple seizures daily may consider reduction to one seizure per week "effective," while others want to be entirely seizure-free.
Patients with intractable epilepsy are those whose seizure frequency is not controlled by medication. These patients may be eligible for surgical treatment to remove the source of seizures. Physicians at the University of Chicago Hospitals have provided surgical treatment of epilepsy in adults and children since 1980.
Thanks to advances in diagnostic procedures and microsurgical technologies, physicians can identify the "focal point" of the seizure with great precision and often remove it with minimal damage to brain functions. Surgical treatment is only considered when there is a single location or focal point within the brain responsible for seizures, and when that location does not threaten vital brain functions.
Epilepsy Surgery — Identifying the Seizure Source
In order to identify the exact site in the brain where epileptic seizures originate, neurologists must study the person's seizures while in progress. This diagnostic process is detail-focused and time-consuming. Patients are admitted to the University of Chicago Hospitals for up to two weeks, where anti-convulsant drugs are gradually withdrawn so that seizures will occur with more frequency and severity. The patient's brain activity is recorded during repeated seizures. Of course, patients are closely monitored in the hospital setting throughout their stay.
Electronic stimulators are being used to help prevent seizures. This is a newly approved technique that will be of use at the University of Chicago.
Clinical Trials
Adult patients at the University of Chicago Hospitals may be eligible for clinical trials of new anti-convulsant medications.
U of C Research in Epilespy
Researchers here work closely with University of Chicago physicists to enhance brain imaging techniques that will lead to even better neurosurgical treatment of epilepsy. Physicians here are especially interested in the use of sophisticated stimulation techniques that can be developed to effectively stop a seizure that is about to occur. In addition, our epilepsy specialists are active in the Epilepsy Foundation of America.
Related Websites
American Epilepsy Society
The Epilepsy Foundation of America
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