The Michigan Medicine Comprehensive Epilepsy Program is a designated Level 4 referral center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. This designation certifies that the Michigan Comprehensive Epilepsy Program provides the highest level of medical and surgical diagnostic and treatment options for epilepsy patients. If you have been diagnosed with a seizure disorder or epilepsy, or if you have uncontrolled episodes of loss of consciousness, seeking a referral to an epilepsy specialty clinic will often give you access to treatment or information that may not be available from general neurologists.
As a regional and national referral facility, our highly skilled specialists offer the latest, most sophisticated evaluation, diagnosis and treatment options, with the goal of providing hope for patients with epilepsy. Our team has extensive experience in epilepsy surgery, performing 70 to 100 procedures per year.
Our Epilepsy Unit, where patients are monitored via video, includes physicians, nurses, skilled EEG technologists and 24-hour monitoring attendants.
Addressing Complications of Epilepsy
In addition, our Comprehensive Epilepsy Program works to identify any medical, psychological or social complication that arises as a result of the seizure disorder. We discuss transportation, employment and safety issues to help patients understand their best potential and safest course of action. We talk about driving laws, household topics, the impact seizures might have on different types of paid or unpaid work and wheelchair or disability issues. We talk about how to monitor for issues that may predispose a patient to sudden death, or cause injury or embarrassment. We also discuss issues around conceiving, delivering and caring for children, and the impact of treatment on family and caregivers. We measure aspects of cognition that can help patients optimize their strengths and weaknesses. We discuss the costs of medical care, and try to offer alternatives that do not strain resources. We also provide a bridge to other medical care a patient may need.
Epilepsy Research at the University of Michigan
The Michigan Medicine epilepsy faculty participates in diverse research efforts ranging from individual clinical projects to nationally funded multicenter clinical trials and basic science studies. The University of Michigan is a site for the multicenter Epilepsy Phenome-Genome Project, a National Institutes of Health-funded research study to identify genes that influence the development of certain types of epilepsy. Current areas of research at U-M also include vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), finding ways to better predict seizure onsets and transforming patient-derived skin cells to nerve cells for studying mechanisms of genetic epilepsies.
We also conduct experimental antiepileptic drug trials and offer our patients the opportunity to take part in trials focused on how genetic makeup affects their seizure disorder. In some cases, we can already direct treatment given our knowledge of specific syndromes, but in other cases, we are gathering information that can generate better treatment for future patients.
Make an Appointment
To make an appointment to discuss treatment for epilepsy, contact our General Neurology Clinic at 734-936-9020.