New Program Offers Epilepsy Care to Patients from Around the World
Program supports international families seeking expert care
Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health has launched a new program to bring care provided by the expert epileptologists at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center to patients all over the world.
To date, doctors Eric Ségal and Luke Tomycz, who lead the Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health epilepsy program, have treated pediatric patients from Wales, the United Kingdom and Morocco.
The program is an extension of the Hackensack Meridian Health’s Global Health initiative, which provides boutique concierge services to international patients from around the world. In 2022, HMH developed a partnership with the Ministry of Health of Ecuador and is in the process of finalizing partnerships in India. These programs will increase HMH's international patient pipeline. International patients have sought top-tier, high quality HMH programs in the following specialties: oncology, urology and robotic surgery, cardiology and maternal fetal medicine.
The HMH program provides international patients assistance with the visa process, translation and interpretation services, scheduling and coordinating medical appointments, arranging travel and lodging logistics, dietary assistance, and other needs.
The pediatric epilepsy program at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health has a history of being innovative. In 2021, for example, the first responsive neurostimulation (RNS) device was implanted in a patient to treat drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The procedure was performed at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital also was the largest pediatric recruiter for studies of Valtoco®, an intranasal short-term rescue treatment for seizure clusters. Valtoco® was shown to perform better than Diastat, the standard seizure rescue treatment until 2020, which is administered rectally.
Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital also published new research showing that diazepam nasal spray*, which uses a type of medication called a benzodiazepine, is safe and effective for emergency seizure cluster treatment in patients who are already taking oral benzodiazepines. The research was published in Epilepsia, the official journal of the International League Against Epilepsy.
In addition to research and innovative treatment, the cornerstone of epilepsy care at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health is advanced monitoring of epilepsy at K. Hovnanian and Joseph M. Sanzari. At Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, a dedicated Pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) is staffed 24/7. In 2021, the EMU’s monitoring capability was expanded to include two new rooms housed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Joseph M. Sanzari.
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