Approximately 1 in 100 people in the UK have a known diagnosis of epilepsy and the majority of these patient are seizure free with medication. However, about 450 patients per year require surgery to improve their quality of life and reduce the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Part of the standard pre-surgical assessment for such patients is Video-telemetry (VT) recording and our fund raising is to support the purchase of a second set equipment so we can assess more patients and reduce their waits for a decision. VT is a prolonged (EEG) recording of the brain’s electrical activity with a simultaneous video recording. This typically runs for 5 days to capture recordings of the patient’s epileptic seizures. Assessment of these detailed recordings, including the changing EEG patterns and clinical features during the seizures, assist us in establishing where the epilepsy is arising from. 

For patients not suitable for re-sective surgery, VT is still an important part of their assessment and can identify their suitability for other solutions such implanted intra-cranial stimulators, minimally invasive thermocoagulation or laser therapy. 

Four of Team Neuro will be walking 50km of the Thames Path to raise funds in conjunction with our local Neurosciences charity, Smile4Wessex.  With their support and your generous donations we are looking forward to getting a second set of VT kit to support our patients.

More details can be found here: https://www.smile4wessex.org/ourcurrentappeal

The adult epilepsy surgery service is one of the flagship services of The Wessex Neurological Centre, caring for the population of Southampton and the region. Our service was established in 2005 as one of the largest in the UK and we are keen to expand what we can offer to our patients.