Expert Neurology Care for Kids
Comprehensive Child Neurology Care
At KIDZ Medical Services, our pediatric neurologists diagnose and treat neurologic conditions that affect children. Our fellowship-trained pediatric neurologists have advanced training and expertise in the management of epilepsy and seizures, along with a special interest in neonatal neurology, headaches, and behavioral medicine.
They provide care to patients in their offices as well as in the hospital. They work with pediatricians and family physicians, as well as neonatal and pediatric intensivists in a team approach to provide the best possible care for your child.
Pediatric Neurology Services
- Evaluation for children with epilepsy
- Assessment for children with autism and related disabilities
- Evaluation for headaches and childhood migraines
- Comprehensive evaluation of children with attention and behavioral difficulties
- Evaluation for Tourette syndrome and other movement disorders
- Assessment for neurogenetic/neurometabolic disorders
- Evaluation for cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders
Our pediatric neurologists can perform most diagnostic tests during an office visit (if feasible), which usually eliminates the need to have these tests performed in a hospital or outpatient facility. If your child is diagnosed with a neurological problem, our specialists take the time to ensure that you leave the office with a good understanding of your child’s neurological problem, treatment, and follow-up plans. We will keep your primary care physician abreast of any tests or treatment plans.
Referrals and Evaluations
Common conditions that may require a referral to a pediatric neurologist include:
- Developmental delay
- Suspected autism
- Seizures/epilepsy
- Fainting episodes
- Headaches
- Academic underachievement
- Suspected ADHD
- Tics
- Other behavioral difficulties
The doctor will perform a detailed evaluation that will include a physical examination of your child and may recommend tests such as an EEG, CT/MRI scan, and the Quotient test to better characterize the nature of the medical problem.
If the purpose of your visit to the pediatric neurologist is to evaluate your child for ADHD, the doctor may conduct something called the Quotient test.
This simple and quick (15-20 minutes) computerized test of attention provides the neurologist with objective measures of all three core symptom areas – inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – to help manage ADHD symptoms.
It not only helps with the diagnosis by integrating the data from Quotient with teacher and parent questionnaires, but more importantly, helps in adjusting medication (when needed) to maximize its efficacy.
If the pediatric neurologist believes your child may have a seizure-related disorder, he may order a type of EEG:
An EEG is a painless, noninvasive procedure that monitors and records the electrical activity in your child's brain. This enables the neurologist to detect any abnormality that may reflect a tendency for having seizures even (in most cases) when a seizure does not occur during the test.
This test allows for the brain waves to be evaluated for a prolonged period of time, therefore maximizing the chance of finding an abnormality (if one exists). The doctor may order this test when the routine EEG is normal but your child keeps having episodes suspicious of being seizures.
There are special cases where it is desirable to obtain a longer recording (for example, when there is doubt as to whether a child's episodes are really epileptic). Here, special equipment known as video-EEG telemetry is required for EEG monitoring. This test is typically recommended for children or when ambulatory recording is not feasible for technical reasons.
During this test, video is simultaneously recorded in real-time with the EEG. This helps the neurologist make a more accurate diagnosis. . It is performed in the hospital under nursing supervision in a designated private room. A parent is asked to stay overnight with the child.
Wash your child's hair the night before the EEG and do not apply any conditioner or styling gel. No braids or pigtails. In order for the technician to obtain readings during awake, drowsy, and asleep periods, we ask that your child be sleep deprived the night prior to the test.
Patients older than 8 years should receive 5 hours of sleep only, between midnight and 5 am. Younger children should sleep one-half their normal sleep hours and be awakened at 4 am.
Infants (under one year of age) do not need to be sleep deprived the night before unless the test is scheduled at 8 am. In this case, the child should be awakened early so that they will be tired by 9 am. Infants and children who take naps should be deprived of naps on the day of the test.
In some circumstances, your child may need to be given a mild sedative the day of the test. In these instances, parents will be instructed not to give the child anything to eat or drink 4 hours before the test. (Please do not let your child nap from the time he/she wakes up until the technologist performs the test).
After the tests are performed, the physician reviews the entire video-EEG study. You can call the referring doctor in 7 days for results.
If your pediatrician or family doctor recommends that your child see a doctor who specializes in neurologic and seizure disorders in children, trust the experts at KIDZ Medical Services. Call to make an appointment with one of our pediatric neurologists or request an appointment online.
