It has proven advantageous for patient care, research, and training to organize programs around specific clinical problems. This arrangement provides better patient diagnosis and care, facilitates research, and provides resident training by a group of expert neurologists in particular disease areas.
The University of Maryland has developed the following programs:
Maryland Center for Multiple Sclerosis
This program has been developed over the past decade as a site for comprehensive care and innovative research into the cause and treatment of M.S. Patient care programs include interdisciplinary cooperation from the specialties of:
Neurologic rehabilitation, including a supervised exercise program, is offered. The research focus of the center has been both in basic science, specifically neuroimmunology and neurovirology, and in controlled clinical trials. Recent clinical studies have focused on beta interferons, 4-aminopyridine, glatiramer acetate and several cykokime based therapies.
The Maryland Epilepsy Center is a tertiary referral center for evaluation and treatment of seizure disorders in adults and children. Of particular interest are seizures that are either difficult to diagnose or intractable to medical therapy. Outpatient facilities for patient evaluations, EEG, evoked potentials and video-EEG studies are complemented by a state-of-the-art four bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit that permits long-term inpatient continuous video-EEG monitoring. The Maryland Sleep Disorders Center is a part of our clinical neurophysiology laboratory.
An active seizure surgery program includes a multidisciplinary team performing scalp and intracranial EEG recordings, cortical mapping and neuropsychological assessment. Neuroimaging capabilities include routine and thin section MRI, ictal SPECT, and functional MRI.
The research components of the Maryland Epilepsy Center include investigations into:
The Neuromuscular Disease Program has an active in-patient and out-patient service covering all aspects of clinical neuromuscular disease and is supported by five Faculty, a Nurse Practitioner, two Neuromuscular/Electrophysiology Fellows, and three technicians. The fully-equipped clinical neurophysiology/electromyography laboratory at UMMC performs a wide range of both general electrodiagnostic studies and specialized studies. Specialized clinics include those in peripheral neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy. There is an active research program at the University and affiliated laboratories at the Baltimore VA. Muscle and nerve biopsies are processed in the Neuropathology Laboratory and reviewed biweekly. Skin biopsies are performed on patients with suspected small fiber neuropathy. A full course of lectures covers all aspects of neuromuscular electrophysiology and neuromuscular pathology.
Affiliated staff members have a wide variety of basic and clinical research interests including:
Clinical research studies continue in the Guillain-Barré syndrome, chronic demyelinating neuropathies, diabetic polyneuropathies, nerve repair following traumatic injury, ALS and myasthenia gravis.
The Maryland Brain Attack Center
The Maryland Brain Attack Center is a regional center of excellence in stroke care and research. It is the first center in Maryland dedicated to comprehensive care of patients with cerebrovascular disease and is a JCAHO - certified Primary Stroke Center. The Center's Brain Attack Team is a 24 hour/7 day a week multispecialty team developed to rapidly evaluate and treat patients with vascular causes of neurologic disorders. The team is modeled after the concept of the "golden hour" pioneered at the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center. It operates under the guidelines that treatment is most effective at reducing disability and mortality if delivered emergently within a therapeutic time window.
The Stroke Program builds on the mission of the Brain Attack Center by providing a continuum of care for patients following their acute presentation. Inpatient stroke consultation and outpatient stroke clinics are available. A variety of clinical research studies address acute stroke care as well as primary and secondary prevention strategies.
The Neurovascular Laboratory perfoms carotid duplex/color flow Doppler and transcranial doppler studies.
Rehabilitation Medicine is a Division of the Department of Neurology. Inpatient rehabilitation services are provided at three sites: The University of Maryland Hospital, the R A Cowley Shock Trauma Center, and the James Lawrence Kernan Hospital.
Stroke, traumatic brain injury and, to a lesser extent, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disease and multiple sclerosis are the neurologic diseases represented.
The research interests of affiliated faculty members are behavioral neurology, aphasiology, and the functional basis for neurologic recovery. Active research programs include:
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Program
This program focuses in diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, as well as basic research these neurodegenerative diseases. The Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Clinic provides a multidisciplinary approach to these conditions with cooperation among neurologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and neuropsychologists.
It is also the site for clinical trials research for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease. NIH and VA-funded research laboratories of the Department of Neurology utilize molecular and cellular techniques to focus on gene regulation and protein processing in neurodegenerative diseases.
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