Michael E. DeBakey VA in Houston recently became accredited as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC).
“This accreditation affirms our team’s dedication to providing the most advanced expert care to our Veterans,” said Medical Center Director Frank Vazquez, Navy Veteran. “Working in partnership with clinicians throughout Houston VA, our epilepsy-specialized neurologists and neurosurgeons offer Veterans the most advanced treatment and management capabilities. We are committed to providing our Veterans with the world-class care they so richly deserve.”
Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes recurring unprovoked seizures. Your doctor may diagnose you with epilepsy if you have two unprovoked seizures or one unprovoked seizure with a high risk of more. Not all seizures are the result of epilepsy. Seizures may relate to a brain injury or a family trait but often the cause is completely unknown.
Professional expertise and advanced capabilities
This Level 4 status is the highest level of accreditation for epilepsy care, and it recognizes programs with the professional expertise and advanced capabilities to provide the medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.
Houston VA’s Epilepsy Center of Excellence (ECoE) is one of 19 throughout VA. Using state-of-the-art digital diagnostic equipment, it offers Veterans a wide array of treatment and diagnostic options, including electroencephalography (EEG), Video/EEG long-term monitoring (4-bed epilepsy monitoring unit), ambulatory EEG, comprehensive inpatient care, outpatient Epilepsy Clinics, patient education and neuropsychological evaluations.
“We take great pride in offering Veterans specialized treatment, including group therapy and individualized cognitive behavior therapy for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures,” said Dr. Pitchaiah Mandava, director of Houston VA neurology and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. “We have robot-assisted surgery, intracranial EEG monitoring, epilepsy surgery, epilepsy device implantation and much more. Our goal is to use the latest technology and all our resources to develop a treatment plan individualized for each and every Veteran we serve.”
“Proud to set new benchmarks in epilepsy care for our Veterans”
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, director of Houston VA’s Epilepsy Center of Excellence, says the new accreditation is great news for staff and Veterans alike.
“This landmark achievement, recognizing that Houston VA provides the highest level of epilepsy care regionally and nationally, would not have been possible without the relentless dedication of our team of epilepsy specialists, technicians, nurses, neuropsychology/neurosurgery/neuroradiology colleagues and administrative personnel.” Haneef is also board certified in neurology, neurophysiology and epilepsy.
“Together, we are proud to set new benchmarks in epilepsy care for our Veterans, embodying our collective commitment to excellence, innovation and compassionate care of those who have served our country,” Haneef added.
In addition to caring for more than 114,000 Veterans in southeast Texas, Houston VA also serves as a regional and national referral center for many services including cardiac surgery, liver transplant, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, radiation therapy and spinal cord injury care.
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This is wonderful news for our veterans. My son recently had epilepsy surgery and he is doing excellent. Surgery is a huge piece of the puzzle for curing a once incurable disease.