Grey Matters

By: Dr. Rosalina Espiritu-Picar

THE BRAIN WAVE MACHINE

The Medical Center recently launched our very own Electroencephalography Unit at Suite 411. The EEG is an important diagnostic tool as it gives us a glimpse into the functioning of the brain.

The EEG records the cortical nerve cell excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials as they are transmitted through the cortex and picked up by surface electrodes. It is a totally painless and non-invasive procedure making it ideal for infants up to the geriatric population

The main indication for the EEG is the evaluation of paroxysmal disorders such as epilepsies, syncope and headache. Recently, it has also been discovered to be helpful in diagnosing a myriad of diseases ranging from differentiating organic from psychiatric disorders, transient ischemic attacks from seizures as well as the documentation of brain death.

The addition of the EEG unit to our diagnostic capabilities will guarantee a more comprehensive assessment and treatment of our patients.

Neuro-NewsBits

Dr. Rey Murillo lectures on Headache

by Marie Grace Almarinez, MD

It was a day for ‘head check’ during Dr Rey Murillo’s special lecture on “Headache: Various Types and Management”, rendered last February 27, 2007 at the Medicine Lounge. The Department of Internal Medicine’s Consultants, Residents, Interns and Clerks, attended the lecture where a

review of the clinical presentations of various types of headache and their respective management were presented.

Dr. Murillo, one of only few Internist-Neurologists in the whole of Laguna and a Professor in Neurology at the College of Medicine, noted that headache, one of the most common complaints presented by patients consulting at a Neurologist’s or any Internist’s office for that matter, deserves thorough examination from funduscopy to simple muscle tension evaluation. The lecture included a list of medications available, given according to severity of migraine headaches, tension headache, or even plain muscle spasms. He reiterated that radiologic diagnostic tests such as Head CT Scan or MRI with contrast are available options for patients needing further assessment to rule out probable malignancies, arterio-venous malformations and the like.