Wards

A multiprofessional team is working on the ward for adults. The expertise of our physicians, nurses, psychologists, ergo- and art-therapists, physiotherapists and coworkers in social medicine significantly contributes to make the correct diagnoses, to optimize treatment, to manage comorbidites, and to support the patients to come to terms with their disease.

To this ward, patients aged 18 years and above who can care for themselves (e.g. eating, washing) can be admitted.

Focus diagnostics

Chronic neurological diseases with paroxysmal manifestations can have different causes. We aim to clarify the following questions:

• Does the patient have epileptic seizures and epilepsy or are the seizures symptom of another neurological condition (e.g. dissociative seizures or syncopes)?
• If epilepsy is confirmed: What is the epilepsy type (generalized, focal, unclassified) and can we identify an epilepsy syndrome (e.g. juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, mesial temporal lobe epilepsy)?
• What is the seizure frequency? Do the patients suffer from unrecognized seizures?

Paramount to answer these questions is comprehensive history taking in neurology and epileptology, extensive EEG diagnostics, including long-term video-EEG monitoring if necessary. Maybe further tests are required such as examination of blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid, neuropsychological tests, and a high-resolution MRI.

Long-term video-EEG monitoring means simultaneous recording of video and EEG for a couple of days. The aim is to record patients‘ habitual seizures in order to classify them and maybe to detect seizures which are not recognized and/or not remembered by the patients (in particular seizures occurring during sleep). Even if no seizures occur during recording, the ‘non-seizure EEG‘ (interictal) and the simultaneously recorded cardiac rhythm may give helpful diagnostic information.

Focus treatment

The multifaceted therapeutic offers comprise individual counselling on antiseizure medication, ergotherapy, art-therapy, psychotherapy, advice on eligibility for driving and working, and physiotherapy.

These therapies are part of a comprehensive treatment concept which aims to strengthen the competences of our patients and their next of kin to cope with the chronic condition epilepsy. Furthermore, pastoral counselling is availabel, also for those patients who are not member of a religious groups. We have close cooperations with other departments of our hospital such as psychiatry, neurology, and internal medicine.

The social and occupational situation of our patients is a a key factor both in our diagnostics and in the multiple therapies. Epilepsy often results in deficits in patients‘ social lives and at their working place. We thoroughly counsel the patients on these issues and help to improve their social skills and to integrate them into the employment market.

Patients‘ understanding and coping with their chronic neurological disease is a central aspect of our interdisciplinary treatment concept. For that, we offer both individual and group treatments.

This ward has 25 beds, each room as one or two beds.