Abstracts

Rationale: Tertiary epilepsy centers were founded for the evaluation and treatment of refractory epilepsy. Current data suggests that patients with refractory epilepsy are not referred for subspecialty epilepsy care for an average of 15-20 years. A new onset seizure clinic (NOSC) was established in November 2005 to promptly evaluate and treat patients with new onset or suspected seizures. The goals of this clinic were to provide expert clinical care for patients with new onset or suspected seizures. The goal of this research project is to review the long term outcomes of those who were seen in our clinic initially with newly treated epilepsy. Methods: We reviewed the charts of patients seen in the new onset seizure clinic in the calendar year of 2007. The University of Cincinnati IRB approved this study. Results: 121 patients were initially seen in 2007 in new onset seizure clinic for suspected seizures. Of those, 53 patients (43%) were treated with antiepileptic drugs. By 2011, however, only 38 patients continued to be seen in our clinic and were on antiepileptic drug therapy at that time. Most patients were on monotherapy with Keppra or Lamictal being the most often prescribed drug. Of the 38 patients on an AED seen in our clinic, 68% were seizure free. Conclusions: The benefit of a new onset seizure clinic allows for expert care to those with suspected seizures. It also allows for prompt access to an epilepsy monitoring unit and expert care for those with non-epileptic events. The seizure free rate in subjects seen for epilepsy was 68% which is similar to prior reported outcomes in newly diagnosed epilepsy studies. Our clinic continues today and offers prompt evaluation for those with suspected seizures.