Fridha V. Villalpando-Vargas , Fabrizio A. Mortola , Juan C. Barrera de León , Tania P. Sánchez-Murguía , Ilse M. Mora-Rodríguez , Jonathan A. Cisneros-Orozco , Andrea Enríquez-Zaragoza , Karla López-Jiménez , Alioth Guerrero-Aranda
{"title":"Two-year experience of a newly established epilepsy monitoring unit in a resource-limited setting","authors":"Fridha V. Villalpando-Vargas , Fabrizio A. Mortola , Juan C. Barrera de León , Tania P. Sánchez-Murguía , Ilse M. Mora-Rodríguez , Jonathan A. Cisneros-Orozco , Andrea Enríquez-Zaragoza , Karla López-Jiménez , Alioth Guerrero-Aranda","doi":"10.1016/j.cnp.2025.02.012","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs) play a critical role in epilepsy management, yet they remain scarce in resource-limited settings. This study presents a 2-year experience of a newly implemented EMU in Mexico, evaluating its clinical impact, procedural metrics, and challenges. <em>Methods</em><strong>:</strong> This retrospective study included 117 patients admitted to the EMU of a private hospital in central-western Mexico between February 2023 and December 2024. Patients underwent tailored protocols for long-term video-EEG monitoring for diagnostic clarification, treatment optimization, or presurgical evaluation. Diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes, seizure yield, and safety metrics were described. <em>Results</em><strong>:</strong> The EMU facilitated diagnostic changes in 59% of patients, with 80.3% undergoing treatment modifications. Among presurgical evaluation patients, 80.8% exhibited seizures during admission. Seventy-two percent of patients achieved a favorable seizure outcome at one-year follow-up. Twelve patients underwent epilepsy surgery, with resective procedures being the most common. Status epilepticus and seizure clusters, occurred in 2.5% and 0.8% of patients, respectively. <em>Conclusion</em><strong>:</strong> The implementation of a high-quality EMU is achievable in resource-limited settings. <em>Significance</em>: This study highlights the importance of tailored protocols and multidisciplinary collaboration, providing a practical framework enhancing epilepsy care and bridging gaps in epilepsy management in underserved regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45697,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","volume":"10 ","pages":"Pages 84-89"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Neurophysiology Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2467981X25000149","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective
Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs) play a critical role in epilepsy management, yet they remain scarce in resource-limited settings. This study presents a 2-year experience of a newly implemented EMU in Mexico, evaluating its clinical impact, procedural metrics, and challenges. Methods: This retrospective study included 117 patients admitted to the EMU of a private hospital in central-western Mexico between February 2023 and December 2024. Patients underwent tailored protocols for long-term video-EEG monitoring for diagnostic clarification, treatment optimization, or presurgical evaluation. Diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes, seizure yield, and safety metrics were described. Results: The EMU facilitated diagnostic changes in 59% of patients, with 80.3% undergoing treatment modifications. Among presurgical evaluation patients, 80.8% exhibited seizures during admission. Seventy-two percent of patients achieved a favorable seizure outcome at one-year follow-up. Twelve patients underwent epilepsy surgery, with resective procedures being the most common. Status epilepticus and seizure clusters, occurred in 2.5% and 0.8% of patients, respectively. Conclusion: The implementation of a high-quality EMU is achievable in resource-limited settings. Significance: This study highlights the importance of tailored protocols and multidisciplinary collaboration, providing a practical framework enhancing epilepsy care and bridging gaps in epilepsy management in underserved regions.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Neurophysiology Practice (CNP) is a new Open Access journal that focuses on clinical practice issues in clinical neurophysiology including relevant new research, case reports or clinical series, normal values and didactic reviews. It is an official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology and complements Clinical Neurophysiology which focuses on innovative research in the specialty. It has a role in supporting established clinical practice, and an educational role for trainees, technicians and practitioners.