Doha: Sidra Medical and Research Center backed Purple Day which was marked on Thursday.
The day is a global grassroots effort to raise awareness about epilepsy, a disorder of the brain that causes seizures due to abnormal electrical activity. Epilepsy can affect people of all ages though it is more common among children and older adults.
“Sidra is keen to support global healthcare and educational initiatives, including those related to disorders like epilepsy, to help raise awareness and educate the public. Epilepsy is a complex condition and misdiagnosis is common, occurring in a quarter of patients worldwide.
“Accurate and timely diagnosis is key to ensuring that patients receive effective treatment to control seizures,” said Dr Khaled Zamel (pictured), Interim Chief of Paediatric Neurology.
An epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) for paediatric patients will be part of the hospital and research centre. The six-bed EMU will enable the team to accurately diagnose epilepsy and monitor patients’ conditions to ensure they receive the best possible treatment and care.
“Patients will be assessed to identify the type of epilepsy and medicines and therapies right for each of them. We will also screen patients to determine whether they could benefit from surgery, which can cure the condition in some people,” Dr Zamel said.
The EMU will have a neurodiagnostic laboratory, staffed 24/7 by technologists, neuroscientists and neuroengineers trained to record the brain’s minute electrical signals and long-term monitoring of the disease.
The most advanced technologies will be applied to analyse the signals to reveal any neuronal dysfunction.
In some cases, the patient’s MRI will be used to create a 3D model of their brain and algorithms will be used to pinpoint the abnormal electrical activity to a specific brain region.
The laboratory will also have a neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation device, which painlessly stimulates the brain for mapping and certain treatments. The Peninsula
