At this level, the center should be capable of conducting complete preoperative evaluation and monitoring. Its staff should have the expertise to perform a broad range of surgical procedures for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disease, a disease of the central nervous system. Seizures occur when discharges of electrical energy from brain cells become uncontrolled. A sudden medical problem can trigger a seizure, but this doesn't mean the diagnosis is epilepsy.
Epilepsy involves seizures that continue to occur.
Seizures that involve all of the brain are called generalized. Those that are limited to one part of the brain are called partial, or focal, seizures. Patients whose epilepsy is hard to control should be referred to specialized centers, according to the NAEC, while those whose epilepsy can be more easily controlled ordinarily need not be referred to such centers. If you have a seizure, your family doctor may start treatment. If the seizures can't be controlled within nine months after that, a referral to a specialty epilepsy center is the next step.