White Plains Hospital Only Center in Westchester Approved for NeuroPace-RNS® System
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (January 8, 2016) – Neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Goodman and the White Plains Hospital epilepsy team recently implanted the first NeuroPace-RNS® (responsive neurostimulator) system at White Plains Hospital in a patient with epilepsy. White Plains Hospital is currently the only healthcare provider in Westchester approved for performing this innovative procedure, which was FDA-approved in 2013 to treat adults with partial onset seizures that are not controlled by medications.
The NeuroPace-RNS® is the first and only brain-responsive neurostimulation system designed to prevent epileptic seizures at their source. The system involves the implantation of a small device connected to tiny wires, placed in up to two seizure onset areas. The device continuously monitors brain activity and can detect abnormal patterns in brain activity, delivering imperceptible electrical pulses in response to normalize the activity before an individual experiences seizures. It is able to recognize each brain’s unique “fingerprint” and respond in real-time to try to prevent seizures from occurring – delivering treatment when needed, on average less than 6 minutes of stimulation per day. The patient does not feel the stimulation when it is delivered. The NeuroPace-RNS® system can also deliver data wirelessly to the patient’s physician about seizure frequency and electrocorticographic activity.
According to Robert Goodman, MD, PhD, “The NeuroPace-RNS® can reduce the number and severity of seizures in a significant percentage of epilepsy patients. Some patients can stop having seizures for prolonged periods of time – even years – following the implantation of this device.” Dr. Goodman adds, “Another benefit of the system is that it is able to pinpoint precisely where the seizures are starting – in some patients, whether in the left or right temporal lobe. This is often very difficult or impossible to determine with other methods of testing. If the seizures originate in one temporal lobe, the patient could be a candidate for further surgery and could be cured completely of seizures.” The RNS® system also has lower risk than other brain surgeries, with fewer infections or serious complications. The procedure can be done with a brief hospital stay (1 – 2 days) and the patient is usually back to normal within 1 – 2 weeks.
The seizure diagnostic center at White Plains Hospital is the only Level 4-specialized Epilepsy Center in the region. The center is overseen by co-Directors Dr. Marcelo Lancman and Dr. Olgica Laban-Grant from the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group. According to Dr. Laban-Grant, “The multidisciplinary team at Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group and White Plains Hospital is involved in identifying patients who would benefit from the procedure. After the implantation, data analysis and adjustment of the RNS® system is done by epileptologists.”
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least two seizures that were not caused by a specific medical condition. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, it is estimated that approximately 3 million people of all ages in the US, or about 1 in 100, have been diagnosed with epilepsy. Surgery may be a treatment option in some cases where medications are not controlling seizures or the side effects are intolerable. The type of epilepsy surgery will depend on the location in the brain in which seizures start.
For more information about prodecures using the NeuroPace-RNS®, call the White Plains Hospital Seizure Diagnostic Center at 914-681-2075.
About White Plains Hospital
White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital’s Flanzer Emergency Department is the busiest in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital performs lifesaving emergency and elective angioplasty in its Joan and Alan Herfort, M.D. Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Marie Promuto Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. White Plains Hospital also has outpatient medical facilities in Armonk and New Rochelle. The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and earned its recognition as a Top Performer for Key Quality Measures® in 2015 and 2013. The Hospital is also an eleven-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet® designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2014 White Plains Hospital received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, given to only 5% of hospitals nationwide. White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System. For additional information, visit http://www.wphospital.org.