Epilepsy monitoring units in Saudi Arabia:: Where do we stand compared to developed countries?

Article Figures & Data

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 1
The number of performed epilepsy surgeries in the 4 cities with epilepsy monitoring units.

Table 1

Descriptive analysis of manpower in the 8 hospitals with epilepsy monitoring units in Saudi Arabia.

Staff	Minimum number in a hospital	Maximum number in a hospital	Total number in all hospitals
Adult Epileptologists	1	4	16
Pediatric Epileptologists	0	4	11
Adult Neurologists	4	13	55
Pediatric Neurologists	0	7	23
Adult Neurosurgeons	2	6	33
Pediatric Neurosurgeons	0	3	10
Adult Epilepsy Neurosurgeons	1	2	9
Pediatric Epilepsy Neurosurgeons	0	1	4
Technicians	1	5	25

Table 2

Availability and utilization of diagnostic modalities in the 8 hospitals with epilepsy monitoring units.

Diagnostic modality	Availability in hospitals	The ranges of cases investigated per year	The number of EMUs
Outpatient EEG	100%	500-799	2
		800-1000	1
		More than 1000	5
Inpatient EEG	100%	100-299	2
		300-499	2
		500-799	3
		More than 1000	1
Ambulatory EEG	87.5%	Less than 100	3
		100-199	3
		200-300	1
MRI	100%	100-199	2
		200-300	2
		More than 300	4
Functional MRI	50%	Less than 50	4
SPECT	87.5%	1-49	5
		50-99	1
		More than 200	1
PET	75%	1-49	3
		50-99	1
		100-200	1
		More than 200	1
MEG	12.5%	50-99	1

Table 3

Demonstrates the differences between the cities with epilepsy monitoring units (EMU).

Comparison Variables	EMU Cities
Comparison Variables	Dammam	Jeddah	Makkah	Riyadh
Establishment year of first EMU	2010	2002	2010	1998
Number of shared EMUs	0	1	2	2
Number of adult EMUs	1	0	0	2
Number of pediatric EMUs	1	0	0	2
Average percentage of patients from outside regions	40%	30%	12.5%	40%
Average waiting time (weeks)	10	12	2	14.7
Number of adult epileptologists	1	2	3	10
Number of pediatric epileptologists	1	1	0	9
Number of adult epilepsy neurosurgeons	1	1	2	5
Number of pediatric epilepsy neurosurgeons	1	0	0	3
Technicians	3	3	4	15
Number of adult EMU beds	2	2	9	18
Number of pediatric EMU beds	2	2	1	7
Patient’s average stay in EMU (days)	5.5	5	5	8.2

Table 4

Shows the differences between epilepsy monitoring units in KSA and those in 18 European countries.

Comparison variables	EMUs in KSA n (%)	EMUs in Europe13 n (%)
*Availability of intracranial monitoring*
Yes	11 (100)	37 (77)
No	0 (0)	11 (23)
*EMU type*
Adult	3 (27.3)	6 (13)
Pediatric	3 (27.3)	6 (13)
Shared	5 (45.4)	36 (74)
*Number of EMU beds*
1–2	5 (45.4)	20 (43)
3–4	2 (18.2)	16 (34)
5–6	2 (18.2)	9 (19)
>6	2 (18.2)	2 (4)
*Average number of admissions per year*
<50	3 (27.3)	8 (17)
50–150	5 (45.4)	17 (36)
150–250	2 (18.2)	13 (28)
>250	1 (9.1)	9 (19)