13th "Lucky" and Very Successful Medico-Legal Seminar of Dr. Nasiek

A group of doctors, lawyers, chiropractors, and medical technology industry representatives were invited by Dr. Dariusz Nasiek, Pain Management Specialist, and Dr. Ravi Tikoo MD, Board Certified Neurologist, to discuss the following topics: the importance of evaluating Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS). This topic is so hot that we decided to repeat last month’s presentation and expand on the subject. This time an additional guest speaker was in attendance, Dr. Niley Shah, a neurologist specializing in epilepsy and a nationally recognized expert in EEG and Tele EEG technology.

The night’s program was opened by Dr. Nasiek who thanked his staff, marketing director Melissa Spetham, and sponsors of the event Bryan Yohanow and Prince Singh, for all their efforts in making the event possible.

During the official presentation, Dr. Nasiek presented on topics related to TBI and revealed the silent TBI epidemic, with 1.4 million TBI cases per year in the US. This number of cases was subsequently challenged by the next speaker, Dr. Shah, who indicated that according to his sources the number of TBI cases is in excess of 3 million per year. This discrepancy is related to the difficulty of diagnosis, with 56% of mild TBI cases going undiagnosed in ER departments throughout the US. Serious consequences and injury permanency are a reality for TBI patients, who suffer a 2-4 fold increase in dementia and Parkinson disease and a life span decrease of 2 years.

Thankfully there is a new method of diagnosing the serious complications of TBI using EEG and Tele EEG.

After his presentation, Dr. Nasiek introduced Dr. Nilay Shah, a Cornell University and Mt. Sinai educated physician with a fellowship in neurophysiology from the University of Pittsburg. Dr. Sha, who is a Board Certified Neurologist, presented a broad review of the pathology of the brain following traumatic injury as a result of injuries caused by external forces. Dr. Shah indicated that TBI can result in a myriad of issues, including seizures. Although late onset seizures are more likely to recur and result in post-traumatic epilepsy, Tele EEG can be used to diagnose post-traumatic epilepsy by showing whether the events are epileptic, the type of epilepsy, and the focal point of the seizures. While TBI is a serious and permanent injury of the brain, it is both difficult to diagnose and to prove. TBI may lead to the formation of scar tissue in the brain and other serious pathologies, however detection of either is difficult. While the golden standard of detection is usually brain biopsy, this method is too invasive to have a place in routine evaluation. EEG, which is more accessible and widely used, may miss 90% of seizure generating scar tissue, unless performed over a long duration during sleep. Fortunately, Tele EEG makes overnight and long-term monitoring possible, which enables detection of post-TBI seizures.

New Tele EEG technology has been developed and can be performed over a prolonged period of more than 3 days. It is the most sensitive tool so far to prove focal seizure activity resulting from TBI. Although medical benefits regarding any brain and spinal cord injury in the state on NJ remain at the level of $250k, even a $15k policy will allow for such diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in the treatment of such injuries.

The final presentation was by Wajdi Shawa, a Tele EEG technician, who demonstrated the technical aspects of providing home Tele EEG to patients. This is a new and promising way of diagnosing TBI complications and helping patients in need of post-TBI care.

After these presentations, Dr. Nasiek and Melissa Spethman, the marketing and events coordinator, raffled two gift certificates for massages as many participants stayed long after the program to talk and exchange information. As usual, great food and even better conversation was had, all while new knowledge was spread.
The next meeting is expected to be held on May 6th, from 7-9 PM at the same place. We are extending an invitation to all our friends, contributors, and professional family to participate in our future events.

When calling this company, please reference POLISH AMERICAN PAGES.

Dariusz Nasiek, MD
Board Certified
Anesthesiologist
Pain Specialist