Epilepsy Care at UVA

Our internationally recognized F. E. Dreifuss Comprehensive Epilepsy Program pioneering program offers the most advanced resources available to help you achieve remission of seizures. Our program includes evaluation, intensive monitoring, medication and evaluation for surgical therapy, as well as rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, psychological evaluation and nutritional guidance.

Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

Evaluating Epilepsy

You may stay in the hospital at our epilepsy unit so we can:

• Diagnose why you are having spells
• Determine the type of seizures to decide proper medication
• Find the exact location of the cause of seizures within your brain to determine if you are a candidate for surgery

During a hospital stay we may perform some of these tests:

• Scans to take images of your brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or CAT scans
• Scans to record your brain's electric pulses and to measure how much blood is going to different areas of your brain (EEG and SPECT)
• Testing of your IQ, memory and speech to help us learn where your seizures start

Testing may take up to a week or longer.

Treatment Alternatives

If your epilepsy fails to respond to the usual therapies, we offer:

• Surgery: Either neurosurgery in our Level 4 epilepsy surgery center (the highest designation assigned by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers) or Gamma Knife, to remove the part of the brain causing the seizures
• Vagus Nerve Stimulation: An implanted wire that controls seizures with electrical charges
• Experimental drugs: Provided through our clinical trials program

The epilepsy conditions we treat include:

• Generalized seizures
• Complex partial seizures
• Simple partial seizures
• Spells
• Absence epilepsy
• Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
• Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
• Benign Rolandic epilepsy
• Infantile spasms
• Adult seizures

Learn more about epilepsy with our educational materials and links.