{"id":2723,"date":"2011-10-03T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/divisions\/epilepsy-1\/epilepsy-monitoring-unit\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T15:28:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T20:28:02","slug":"epilepsy-monitoring-unit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/divisions\/epilepsy-1\/patients\/epilepsy-monitoring-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Body\">The EMU is a special hospital unit that helps doctors figure out what is happening in a patient&#8217;s brain when they have a seizure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happens in an EMU:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Patients stay in the EMU for many hours to days.<\/li>\n<li>Doctors use special machines to watch the brain&#8217;s activity closely, especially during seizures.<\/li>\n<li>This helps them understand what&#8217;s causing the seizures and find the best treatment plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Why do patients go to the EMU:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To find out if something is really a seizure.<\/li>\n<li>To pinpoint where in the brain the seizures are starting.<\/li>\n<li>To adjust medications for better seizure control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Learn More about a patient&#8217;s experience in the EMU via the resources below:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-default btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2018\/05\/EMU_patient_brochure_reviewed.pdf\">ºÚÁÏÍø EMU Patient Information<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-default btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/716\/2025\/01\/ºÚÁÏÍøHospitalsEMU_Trifold_Final10.28.24.pdf\">EMU Patient Brochure<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"Body\">The <span style=\"line-height: 1.43em;\">EMU care team consists of several Board-certified epileptologists, an epilepsy nurse practitioner, neurology- and epilepsy-trained nurses, Board-certified or eligible EEG technologists, epilepsy fellows, neurology residents and attending neurologists. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.43em;\">Annually, we perform more than 1,200 long-term video-EEG monitoring, known as LTM or vEEG, including over 500 epilepsy monitoring unit admissions, 2,000 routine and ambulatory EEGs, 10-15 Phase II intracranial monitoring cases for epilepsy surgery and 15-20 epilepsy surgeries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.43em;\"> Out of 500 EMU admissions, over 100 phase I epilepsy pre-surgical evaluations are performed with or without usage of ictal SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"section-som\"><span>ºÚÁÏÍø EMU History<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"Body\">The <span style=\"line-height: 1.43em;\">ºÚÁÏÍø EMU first opened in 1984 with four dedicated private adult beds and two dedicated pediatric beds. In 1988, ºÚÁÏÍø EMU joined NAEC as a member and performed the first Ictal Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). In the 1990s, the ºÚÁÏÍø Epilepsy Center started offering an epilepsy surgery treatment in addition to traditional medical therapy. In 2012, the ºÚÁÏÍø EMU re-opened with the current locations in the Neuroscience Hospital and the Children&#8217;s Hospital after renovation of the floor plan, renovation of rooms, extensive staff training and establishment of extensive patient safety protocols. With the expansion of EMU in 2015, the facility includes seven private beds for adults and four beds for our pediatric patients.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.43em;\">Since 1984, all personnel in the EMU and medical directors are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care to patients with seizure, epilepsy and\/or unknown spells. The ºÚÁÏÍø Epilepsy Center and EMU have actively participated with physician education and various research studies (from clinical drug trials to basic science) to provide better diagnostic and treatment options to patients with epilepsy. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The EMU is a special hospital unit that helps doctors figure out what is happening in a patient&#8217;s brain when they have a seizure. What happens in an EMU: Patients stay in the EMU for many hours to days. Doctors use special machines to watch the brain&#8217;s activity closely, especially during seizures. This helps them &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/neurology\/divisions\/epilepsy-1\/patients\/epilepsy-monitoring-unit\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":988,"featured_media":0,"parent":2729,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2723","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) | Department of Neurology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An EMU evaluation plays a crucial role in a patient\u2019s diagnosis and management with seizures and epilepsy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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