The Epilepsy Patient Management Conference (EMC) is a multidisciplinary weekly meeting when the entire epilepsy team – physicians, surgeons, advanced practice nurses, administrators and coordinators, neuropsychologists and neuroradiologists gather to discuss and synthesize the data gathered for particular patients who have undergone Phase I monitoring. All the relevant data is presented formally and discussed among the whole team. The discussion concludes with a formulation of a consensus management plan for the patient. Often, this is a consideration of whether the patient would benefit from epilepsy surgery. If so, further tests are usually necessary to confirm surgical candidacy, and on the completion of those ancillary tests, the data are re-discussed. In this iterative fashion a final management plan is made which is then communicated to the patient by the team. Essential testing prior to discussion at EMC are
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
along with discussion of the patient’s psychosocial status.
Depending on the specific case, these three core tests are supplemented by one or more of ancillary tests, such as
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
The EMC remains the single most important discussion forum for the management of complex patients. At the University of Florida, we aim to run our EMC to high standards of rigor, discipline and scholarship, so that the combined expertise of our treatment team best serves the needs of our often-challenging patients.