Outpatient education reduces emergency room use by patients with epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a costly diagnosis, with emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions comprising a large portion of total direct cost. An educational intervention to decrease the number of ER visits was implemented on outpatients with epilepsy, using educational handouts and DVD. The number of ER visits declined significantly in the four months following intervention compared with the preceding four months.

SIRPIDs: prevalence and outcome in critically ill patients.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence, associated factors, and outcomes of critically ill patients with stimulus-induced rhythmic, periodic, or ictal discharges (SIRPIDs) on long-term video-EEG (VEEG).

Methods: After IRB approval, we retrospectively reviewed patient characteristics and VEEG findings of all consecutive critical care unit patients who underwent VEEG monitoring between January 2012 and September 2012.

Results: The prevalence of SIRPIDs was 12.

A survey of neurologists' views on epilepsy surgery and medically refractory epilepsy.

There is a 20-year delay between the diagnosis of epilepsy and surgical treatment. The aim of this study was to describe the different views held by neurologists regarding refractory epilepsy that may contribute to the delay in referring patients for epilepsy surgery. Neurologists in Michigan were mailed a 10-item survey inquiring about their definition of medically refractory epilepsy and their decision-making process in referring patients for epilepsy surgery.