Like adults, children can suffer from neurological disorders of the brain and nervous center.
Conditions such as frequent headaches and seizure disorders can make it hard for a child to perform well in school, enjoy life, and even make friends. These issues can have a tremendous impact on the family.
At Mission Children's Hospital, our pediatric neurology team works together to diagnose problems and develop a treatment plan that can help the child have a more fulfilling life and give families some assurance that their child is receiving appropriate care for his or her neurological condition.
Neurological Problems Treated: The following are examples of neurological disorders that we treat:
- Seizure disorders & Epilepsy
- Generalized Seizures
- Tonic-Clonic / "Grand Mal" - Convulsions, jerking and posturing
- Absence / "Petite Mal" - Brief loss of conciousness
- Myoclonic - Sporadic (isolated), jerking movements
- Tonic - Muscle stiffness, rigidity
- Clonic - Repetitive, jerking movements
- Atonic / "Drop Attack" - loss of muscle tone
- Partial Seizures
- Simple, Complex and Secondary Generalized Seizures
- Unusual behaviors or "Spells" - tics, diverted eyes, gazing into space and staring
- Psychotic Attacks of uncontrollable behavior.
- Generalized Seizures
- Headaches and numbness and tingling of the limbs
- Tourettes Syndrome
- Tics and verbal outbursts that can often be confused with a seizure
- Cerebral Palsy
- Multiple Sclerosis
Our Services
Our team works hard to find an accurate diagnosis so we can most effectively treat your child. We work as a team to reach a diagnosis and treatment plan. Diagnostic tests for pediatric neurology may be performed at the Memorial Campus of Mission Hospital or the Reuter Outpatient Center. These include, but are not limited to:
- MRI
- CT Scan, X-ray and lab studies
- Lumbar Puncture (testing of spinal fluid)
- EEGs
- Routine EEG - testing of the brain to identify abnormalities in certain regions
- Sleep deprived EEG - this tests the brain as it is sleep deprived and therefore under more stress
- Ambulatory EEG - the child wears a cap with EEG wires until an event happens, and the family keeps a diary of events so their observation can be correlated to the EEG findings.Electromyography (EMG) - measures electrical activity in muscles
- Nerve Conduction Study (NCS) - measures electrical signals and intensity and time it takes for muscles to respond.
- Vagal nerve stimulator - surgically implanted device used to control seizure activity.
- Ketogenic diet - working with a dietician, this involves a diet extremely low in carbohydrates. It is helpful for some children with severe seizures.
Referral Information
Patients may be referred by their primary care provider unless insurance allows otherwise. You can print the Patient Referral Form and give it to your physician.
Referrals can be faxed to 828-213-1742 along with patient records. Patients and physicians are asked to make sure that copies of scans, MRIs or X-rays are brought to the office visit.
