Amrita Advanced Centre for Epilepsy (AACE), providing comprehensive epilepsy care at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences successfully completed two years of service in June 2012. The Centre was inaugurated by Prof. Solomon Moshe, President of the International League against Epilepsy in the year 2010.

The second anniversary of AACE was observed in the presence of Mr. Tony Chammini, Honorable Mayor, Corporation of Cochin on June 2, 2012.

“Very often, the pain a patient has to bear from the attitude of society is more than the pain inflicted by the disease itself. So, it is necessary to develop a positive approach towards patients who suffer from epilepsy. Awareness programs are needed urgently to eradicate existing myths about epilepsy from the society,” noted the Mayor.

Appreciating the commitment to deliver comprehensive health care to all, he congratulated Amrita for providing the most modern facilities and for the effective treatment and management of epilepsy.

Swami Jnanamritananda Puri blessed the gathering with his benedictory address.

Dr. Vinayan K. P., Professor at the Amrita Advanced Centre for Epilepsy elaborated on the Center offering advanced procedures and techniques in epilepsy care under a single roof.

“AACE has a multidisciplinary team consisting of specialized epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, nuclear medicine specialists, neuropsychologists, special educators and a dedicated social worker to help with the co-morbidities of epilepsy, such as behavior problems and learning disabilities,” he said.

“Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which abnormal electrical activity arises from the brain cells which manifests as seizures or fits. It can be managed medically and surgically,” he added.

“During the past two years, our Center has conducted a total of 7205 electroencephalograms (EEGs) and 74 prolonged video EEG telemetry recordings for seizure-focus localization. In addition, functional and structural imaging modalities including PET, SPECT and fMRI are being offered for patient care,” he stated.

Further explaining the surgical management of epilepsy, Dr. Ashok Pillai, Associate Professor at the Amrita Advanced Centre for Epilepsy stated that if a certain part of the brain is proven to be the origin of the seizures in a particular patient, then surgery can cure epilepsy and make a person seizure-free.

“In such cases where we have found a focal cause, up to 70-80 % have become seizure-free and have been able to even reduce or stop medication. Invasive intracranial EEG monitoring for difficult-to-localize seizures by standard investigations was initiated this year. With this, AACE has become one of the few centers in India which offers this advanced electrophysiological technique,” he said.

In addition to the surgical management, AACE also offers other therapeutic services like ketogenic diet in refractory cases of epilepsy, not amenable to surgery.

June 12, 2012
School of Medicine, Kochi