The Division of Epilepsy, Neurophysiology, and Critical Care Neurology combines the expertise of highly specialized pediatric professionals focused on the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions that require ongoing treatment and support.
Our team’s care is comprehensive and we also help you and your child manage the social, educational, and emotional difficulties that often accompany these disorders.
Experience and Excellence in Care
Every year, the division provides care for more than 8,000 epilepsy-related patients and children with neurological conditions including:
- Neuromuscular disorders
- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
- Hypoxic ischemia (shortage of oxygen to the brain)
The approach to treatment depends on the individual, and may involve a combination of therapies and services:
- Diagnostic testing (EEG, Evoked potentials, EMG, NCV)
- Ongoing outpatient treatment and support
- Inpatient medical care
- Inpatient intensive care
When your child needs inpatient care, Children’s National has the only pediatric Neuro-Intensive Care Unit (Neuro-ICU) program in the Washington, DC, area and one of the first in the nation. The Neuro-ICU is an innovative, state-of-the-art family-centered facility with private patient rooms and special waiting and resting areas so families can stay close by while their child is with us.
The full-time Neuro-ICU staff includes several neuro-intensivists, physicians specifically trained in caring for extremely fragile children with an injury, complex condition, or recovering from surgery who require around-the-clock monitoring.
Additionally, our neonatal neurologists partner with neonatal specialists to provide neuroprotection for newborns in Children’s National's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Neurobehavior Program
The Neurobehavior Program is a subspecialty service of Children’s National's Center for Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine, which focuses upon evaluation and management of behavioral effects associated with neurologic illness. Diseases emphasized include epilepsy, movement disorders, intellectual or developmental disabilities, migraines, and other complex neurologic and medical conditions.
A comprehensive neuropsychiatric assessment is done in collaboration with neurology and neuropsychology services as necessary. The program is unique in that very few pediatric institutions offer an interdisciplinary approach to neurologic illness that includes a psychiatric perspective. We aim to treat the whole person, and tailor treatment to the individual concerns of each patient and family.
Once we identify your child’s particular needs, we work closely with you to develop an individual treatment strategy.