Aljafen Bandar N, Alfayez Saud M, Alanazy Mohammed H, Alazwary Naael, Alohali Sama M, Muayqil Taim
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail:
Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2018 Jul;23(3):244-249. doi: 10.17712/nsj.2018.3.20170412.
To descriptively assess Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs) and the provided services in Saudi Arabia and compare them based on the geographic region.
In this cross-sectional study, an electronic questionnaire was emailed to all directors of EMUs in Saudi Arabia from July 2013 to January 2016, with constant updates being made by all respondents throughout the period of data collection.
All EMU directors participated. There were 11 EMUs in KSA operating in 8 hospitals; 8 (54.5%) EMUs in Riyadh, 2 (18.2%) in Dammam, 2 (18.2%) in Makkah and 1 (9.1%) in Jeddah. Five (54.5%) EMUs were shared for adults and pediatrics, 3 (27.3%) were devoted to adult patients, and 3 (27.3%) to pediatric patients. The average waiting time was 11 weeks (range: 2-52 weeks). The mean percentage of patients coming from an outside region was 30.6%. The average length of stay was 7 days. Less than 100 patients were monitored annually in 54.5% of the EMUs. Seven EMUs (63.6%) admitted less than 100 patients for seizure characterization. Intracranial monitoring was available in all EMUs. Most EMUs (54.5%) admitted less than 100 patients for pre-surgical workup while 36.4% admitted 100-199, and 9.1% admitted more than 300 patients per year. Epilepsy surgeries were performed for less than 50 patients annually in 81.8% of the hospitals.
There are 11 EMUs in Saudi Arabia fully equipped to serve epileptic patients. However, they are underutilized considering the number of admitted patient and the number of epilepsy surgeries per year. Also, they are unequally distributed throughout the kingdom.
对沙特阿拉伯的癫痫监测单元（EMU）及其提供的服务进行描述性评估，并根据地理区域进行比较。
在这项横断面研究中，于2013年7月至2016年1月向沙特阿拉伯所有EMU主任发送了电子问卷，在数据收集期间所有受访者持续更新信息。
所有EMU主任均参与。沙特阿拉伯有11个EMU在8家医院运营；利雅得有8个（54.5%）EMU，达曼有2个（18.2%），麦加有2个（18.2%），吉达有1个（9.1%）。5个（54.5%）EMU供成人和儿科患者共用，3个（27.3%）专门用于成人患者，3个（27.3%）用于儿科患者。平均等待时间为11周（范围：2 - 52周）。来自外地的患者平均比例为30.6%。平均住院时间为7天。54.5%的EMU每年监测的患者少于100例。7个EMU（63.6%）收治的用于癫痫发作特征描述的患者少于100例。所有EMU均具备颅内监测能力。大多数EMU（54.5%）每年收治的用于术前检查的患者少于100例，36.4%收治100 - 199例，9.1%每年收治超过300例患者。81.8%的医院每年进行的癫痫手术患者少于50例。
沙特阿拉伯有11个EMU，具备为癫痫患者提供充分服务的能力。然而，考虑到每年收治的患者数量和癫痫手术数量，这些单元未得到充分利用。此外，它们在沙特王国各地分布不均。
