To detect epileptic activity during treatment in Israel, electroencephalography is performed in several ways: recording during sleep, recording during rapid breathing for several minutes, recording during photostimulation. Magnetic resonance imaging is used to identify diseases of the nervous system that provoke epileptic seizures. Video-EEG monitoring during treatment in Israel is an opportunity to determine the type of epilepsy and locate the epileptic focus.
Neurology specialists in Israel prescribe the following diagnostic examinations for epilepsy:
* Functional magnetic resonance imaging – precise localization of functional areas of the brain.
* Magnetoencephalography – precise determination of the epileptogenic focus.
* Magnetic resonance imaging – performed on high-resolution scanners with contrast agents.
* Video-EEG monitoring – provides accurate information on the localization of the epileptic focus.
* Single-photon emission tomography and positron emission tomography – performed to identify the epileptogenic focus.
* The WADA test determines which hemisphere of the brain controls speech and which controls memory.
* Neuropsychological testing – speech, memory, attention, emotional state, speed of thinking are checked.
Treatment methods for epilepsy in Israel:
– medication;
– ketogenic diet;
– surgical.
Approximately 75% of epilepsy cases during treatment in Israel are cured with medication therapy. Medication is prescribed after the second seizure. Medication is discontinued if seizures can be controlled
: – For children, two years after the last seizure;
– For adults, after five years.
In approximately 65% of patients, seizures do not recur. The effectiveness of medication treatment for epilepsy depends on the level of drug accumulation in the blood. If the level is low, the dose of the drug is increased to an optimal level, or vice versa. The level is determined by a blood test taken in the morning before taking the medication.
Surgical treatment is performed for:
* Intolerance to antiepileptic drugs;
* Ineffectiveness of medications;
* This type of epilepsy is only amenable to surgical treatment.
Types of surgical operations in the treatment of epilepsy in Israel:
* Removal of pathological formation. Application: cortical dysplasia, brain tumor, cavernous angioma, etc. The operation gives an 85% chance of getting rid of epilepsy during treatment in Israel.
* Lobectomy and hippocampectomy are performed for temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis. 80% of patients are permanently freed from seizures.
* Removal of the epileptogenic focus. Removal of the area of the cortex that triggers pathological electrical impulses.
* Hemispherotomy – used for Rasmussen's encephalitis.
* Multiple subpial transections. Surgical intervention is performed if the epileptic focus is located in the motor area or speech sector of the brain.
* Callosotomy. Performed for atonic seizures.
The ketogenic diet is used in the treatment of children up to twelve years old. This diet entails increasing fat intake and reducing carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet improves attention and memory, and also reduces the number of seizures.
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