AHN Hospitals First In Western Pennsylvania To Use Advanced Seizure Monitoring Technology For Optimized Care Of Critically Ill Patients

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) - Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) Jefferson and Allegheny General Hospitals are the first in western Pennsylvania to use breakthrough technology to detect and diagnose non-convulsive seizure activity in critically ill patients to ensure they receive optimal treatment as quickly as possible.

Patients who are critically ill or injured can experience non-convulsive seizures, as the body’s central nervous system reacts to trauma or a serious disease process at work. Since the patient shows no outward signs of seizure activity, physicians must rely on electroencephalography or EEG monitoring, which is not always readily available, to detect it. “The longer a seizure, even a seizure without obvious convulsive movements goes untreated, the higher the risk of permanent brain damage or even death for the patient, potentially making the wait time for an EEG a matter of life and death,” said James Valeriano, MD, Department Chair of Neurology for AHN.

The Neurocritical Care Society recommends EEG should be initiated within 15 to 60 minutes of suspected seizure activity, and the most recent American Heart Association guidelines require EEG to be promptly performed and interpreted for the diagnosis of seizures in all comatose patients following a cardiac arrest.

With the launch of the Ceribell Rapid Response EEG program, physicians at Jefferson and Allegheny General Hospitals can access EEG information to assist them in the triage of at-risk patients in as little as five minutes. The Rapid EEG is the first of its kind and provides a vital sign of harmful brain patterns that do not produce observable signs in the patient and can only be diagnosed using EEG.

The Ceribell Rapid Response device is comprised of a simple headband with integrated electrodes, a pocket-sized recorder with intuitive software and an on-line portal for remote viewing, and the system can be set up by a healthcare provider in a matter of minutes. Clinicians with no prior background in EEG can triage a seizure quickly and with a high rate of accuracy, and the technology’s remote capabilities allow a specialist to review the EEG data, assess response to treatment and optimize care, all in real time, from nearly anywhere.

“This system truly lives up to its claims, in terms of ease of use and diagnostic accuracy, and has provided a level of confidence among our clinical staff as they determine the most appropriate course of treatment for their patients as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Valeriano.

About the Allegheny Health Network:
Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of 13 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, Health + Wellness Pavilions, an employed physician organization, home and community based health services, a research institute, and a group purchasing organization. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, trauma care, cardiovascular disease, organ transplantation, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, women’s health, diabetes, autoimmune disease and more. AHN employs approximately 21,000 people, has more than 2,500 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

About Ceribell
Ceribell, Inc. (http://www.ceribell.com), is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Ceribell is focused on making EEG widely available, more efficient, and more cost-effective to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients at risk for seizures.