Specialties & Services

Epilepsy

Finding out you have epilepsy can significantly affect your daily life and our goal is to help you gain optimal control over epilepsy symptoms. From diagnosis to treatment and recovery, we offer advanced care, walking you through each step of your treatment journey with compassion and support.

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Why choose us for epilepsy care?

BJC HealthCare works with WashU Medicine Physicians, BJC Medical Group, and providers across the region to deliver extraordinary care. We use the latest technologies to provide effective epilepsy treatment. Our research efforts allow us to continually provide exceptional care as new treatments are discovered.

You benefit from:

Recognized excellence: One of our locations is recognized as a national Epilepsy Center of Excellence. Our specialized team partners with WashU Medicine to stay at the forefront of exceptional epilepsy care.
Effective therapies: Our team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, and epilepsy nurses continues to adopt effective new therapies. These advancements have made it possible to control, and even permanently stop, disabling seizure disorders, allowing you to lead a normal life.
Groundbreaking treatments: As pioneers in epilepsy treatment, we were among the first hospitals in the United States to use brain surgery on a regular basis to treat seizure disorders. Today, we continue to be leaders in our field, wielding the latest techniques, such as brain laser surgery, video electroencephalography (EEG), and intracranial electrode placement.
Research and clinical trials: Our physicians participate in clinical trials that allow us to improve our current treatment options. We also test promising new therapies, giving you access to the latest effective treatments.
Quick answers: We understand how frightening it can be to experience a seizure for the first time. At the First Seizure Clinic, we evaluate seizures quickly, aiming to find the root cause and get you started on treatment right away.

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects thousands of adults and children. A seizure is when the brain has a burst of abnormal electrical signals over a short period of time. These signals cause the body and brain to react in certain ways.

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Our highly trained team of specialists offers advanced treatments as well as compassionate, personalized care.

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Diagnostic testing for epilepsy

Since epilepsy technically is defined as recurrent, unprovoked seizures, we can’t always diagnose epilepsy after one seizure. At the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, our neurologists use advanced tools to study brain waves and seizure activity in a safe and controlled environment to determine the cause of your seizures and whether they are epileptic or nonepileptic. Our epilepsy centers may also use 24-hour video EEG and intracranial monitoring to diagnose and better understand your seizures.

Diagnosing seizures may involve a series of tests, including:

Blood and other lab tests

To rule out causes such as infection, irregular blood sugar, and organ problems

Electroencephalography (EEG)

To record electrical activity in the brain. Video EEG can continuously monitor brain activity around the clock.

Brain imaging

To search for conditions that may be causing your seizures and help identify the areas of the brain where they are originating

Neurological and neurocognitive assessments

To understand if your seizures are affecting brain function

Treatments for epilepsy

Of all neurological disorders, epilepsy remains one of the most treatable. Treating hundreds of patients each year, our epilepsy specialists lead the way in developing and refining the most successful epilepsy treatments.

If your epilepsy does not respond to medication, your epileptologist may recommend the following treatments:

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)

An implantable device is placed in the chest and sends electrical pulses to the brain to reduce seizures.

Responsive neurostimulation (RNS)

A RNS device is placed under the skull to help detect seizure patterns and send a pulse to stop the seizure.

Focal resection

This epilepsy surgery is performed to remove the portion of the brain that causes the seizures.

Temporal lobe epilepsy surgery

This procedure involves targeting the amygdala and hippocampus for removal, while other surrounding structures are preserved.

Brain laser surgery

Also used to treat brain tumors, brain laser surgery uses intraoperative MRI to guide a laser and focus it on a particular area in the brain tissue.