Erinn is among the approximately 25 percent of epilepsy patients whose seizures are not controlled by medication, says Elizabeth Barry, M.D., a neurologist and epilepsy specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center. We are pleased to have this new option for patients like Erinn who do not respond well to medication and also are not candidates for traditional seizure surgery, says Dr. Barry, who also is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Inc. It received FDA approval last July. The device consists of a pulse generator and a nerve stimulation electrode, which transmits electrical signals to the brain. The generator, which looks like a pacemaker, is a small round disc that measures two inches in diameter.
Surgeons place the device under the skin in the upper part of the chest.
A lead wire attached to the pulse generator is wrapped around the vagus nerve in the neck. Stimulation of the nerve interrupts the seizure, no matter where in the brain the seizure originates. The patient s neurologist programs the system to deliver electrical impulses automatically at a specific rate, such as sending the signal for a 30-second period every five minutes. Patients can also activate the impulses themselves when they feel that seizures are about to happen, by holding a magnet up to the generator in their chest. The system is powered by batteries that need to be replaced about every five years.