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Epilepsy Surgical Evaluations

A variety of epilepsy surgical evaluations may be used to determine whether surgical intervention is necessary. These include:

• Intensive inpatient video EEG monitoring
• Cortical grid monitoring/mapping
• PET scan
  A positron emission tomography (PET) scan study uses a very low and safe dose of a radioactive isotope to map how the brain is using glucose. Sometimes, the areas of the brain where seizures occur use less glucose. You should not eat for 6 hours before the study. An EEG is recorded during a PET scan to see if there is seizure activity.
• Functional MRI
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) uses a strong magnet and other electronic devices to detect brain functioning. During an fMRI, you will be asked to perform simple tasks such as tapping fingers or feet, listening to words or sentences, viewing images, or silently completing sentences. Before the fMRI, a technologist will instruct you on how to perform these tasks.