Impact of length of stay on diagnostic yield in the epilepsy monitoring unit: A multi‐center retrospective 12‐year Veterans Health Administration study
Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs) are specialized hospital units used to diagnose and characterize seizures. This study looked at over 7000 admissions across 15 Veterans Health Administration EMUs to see whether length of stay affected diagnosis rates based on admission scheduling and seizure types. Regardless of whether patients were admitted on a fixed schedule (Monday-Friday) or a flexible schedule, about half of hospitalizations did not capture typical events. Diagnosis of epileptic seizures and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures occurred at similar rates, though diagnosing epileptic seizures took longer. Findings suggest fixed (shorter) hospital stays may be as effective as longer flexible hospitalizations.
Authors
- Omar Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2879-8790)
- Nina I. Garga
- James Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5530-6029)
- Noemi Rincon‐Flores
- Marissa Kellogg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7809-7082)
- Steven Tobochnik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9071-8398)
- Karen Medin
- Maria Lopez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2421-5682)
- Tung Thanh Tran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9829-2990)
- Christopher B. Ransom
- Autumn B. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4907-3951)
- Stephanie Reeder
- J.C. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2310-0800)
- Maximillian S. Feygin
- Alan R. Towne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4263-7336)
- Zulfi Haneef (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0720-1417)
- Sruthi Gopinath Karicheri
- Stephan J. Eisenschenk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5778-1755)
- Khadar Haroun
Institutions
- Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (US)
- San Francisco VA Medical Center (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Duke University (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Baylor College of Medicine (US)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- Veterans Health Administration (US)
- University of Florida Health (US)
- VA Boston Healthcare System (US)
- Portland VA Medical Center (US)
- Yale University (US)
- James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital (US)
- VA Puget Sound Health Care System (US)
- Malcom Randall VA Medical Center (US)
- VA West Los Angeles Medical Center (US)
- Bruce W. Carter VA Medical Center (US)
- VA Connecticut Research and Education Foundation (US)
- Durham VA Medical Center (US)
- Baltimore VA Medical Center (US)
- Minneapolis VA Medical Center (US)
- William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia Open
- Published
- 2025-04-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.70047
- Primary Topic
- Epilepsy research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00