When your child experiences a seizure for the first time, it can be frightening. Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute provides the specialized expertise and compassionate support your family needs when your child experiences seizures or has been diagnosed with epilepsy.

Our board-certified and fellowship-trained team offers high-quality, comprehensive care to infants, children and teens. Since 2013, we have been accredited as a Level 4 epilepsy center, the highest rating available from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.

Our pediatric neurologists and pediatric neurosurgeons use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to understand your child’s seizures and epilepsy type. Our epilepsy specialists use their skills and experience to create customized treatment plans that minimize side effects, so your child can get back to being a kid again.

Highest Level of Epilepsy Care in Kentucky for Your Child

When it comes to your child’s epilepsy care, resources, experience and expertise matter. Norton Children’s Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Center has earned Level 4 accreditation from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, the highest possible designation and the only level 4 pediatric epilepsy center in Kentucky. This isn’t just an honor; it’s a promise that your child has access to the most advanced epilepsy care available.

What this means for your family is comprehensive support at every level:

• State-of-the-art comprehensive neurodiagnostic evaluation and monitoring
• A personalized approach, tailored for each patient’s specific medical, psychological and social needs
• Multiple treatment options ranging from medical, dietary and surgical options, all designed to meet each patient’s specific needs
• Expertise in managing difficult-to-treat seizures when traditional medical options fail, including accurate surgical options.

Most important, you’ll have a dedicated team by your side who understands that behind every diagnosis is a child with dreams and a future worth fighting for.

Types of Epilepsy Syndromes We Treat

• Benign focal childhood epilepsy: One of the most common childhood epilepsies. Seizures occur almost always out of sleep and usually start in the face with drooling or inability to speak but with the patient aware. They sometimes become convulsive. Most patients outgrow these seizures by early teenage years.
• Childhood or juvenile absence epilepsy: This type causes repeated seizures with brief lapses of consciousness. It usually begins in childhood or early teen years. These seizures can sometimes cause undesired movements, such as rapid eye blinking or an arm moving wildly. Children also can have no symptoms other than feeling “out of it.” Seizures usually occur frequently every day, and although they last a few seconds at a time, they make it difficult for a child to concentrate in school.
• Dravet syndrome: Caused by genetic mutations, this type also is known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. It is rare, and even though it is genetic, it does not always run in families. It can start as fever-induced seizures but with time, seizures start occurring without triggers.
• Focal epilepsy: When seizures arise from one region in the brain, the word “focal epilepsy” is used to describe their origin. Any part of the brain can produce seizures, but the parts that are most likely to give rise to focal epilepsy are the temporal lobe and frontal lobe. Symptoms vary depending on the location and can range from simple staring to convulsive seizures.
• Frontal lobe epilepsy: Frontal lobe seizures can be “dramatic” in their appearance, as they look like random violent movements. Sometimes they even resemble pedaling or bicycling. They tend to happen out of sleep, multiple times every night.
• Infantile spasms (West syndrome): These seizures are called infantile spasms because they typically occur in the first year or two of life and look as if the child is contracting their limbs and torso inward or outward in a very quick fashion. They can result from many causes and require immediate attention and treatment.
• Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: Seizures first arise around puberty or early teenage years and are very quick twitch-like movements that cause jerking in the shoulders or arms, especially upon waking up. They can occur in clusters. Big convulsive seizures and absence seizures also can occur.
• Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: Patients with this syndrome have a combination of different seizure types, including drop seizures, convulsive seizures and staring seizures with unresponsiveness. Seizures are frequent and can happen daily. This syndrome can be caused by a variety of reasons and usually starts in the first decade of life. It requires a thorough workup and treatment.
• Rasmussen’s encephalitis: This autoimmune disorder causes inflammation in one half of the brain. The cause of the inflammation is not clear. It manifests with focal seizures, such as rhythmic jerking of one hand or foot. Seizures can last for many hours or occur multiple times per day. With time, weakness on that side develops. The most appropriate treatment for this condition is hemispherectomy, a surgery that in most cases can cure the disorder.
• Refractory epilepsy: This type, also called intractable epilepsy or drug-resistant epilepsy, is defined by seizures that cannot be controlled by two or more medications. About 30% of all patients with epilepsy have refractory epilepsy. For those patients, seizure treatment options may involve surgery, devices and nonmedical options, such dietary therapies provided by the Norton Children’s Ketogenic Diet Clinic.
• Temporal lobe epilepsy: Seizures arising from the temporal lobe can start with an aura — typically a strange feeling in the stomach, smelling an unpleasant odor or feeling afraid. This may or may not evolve into staring and unresponsiveness that are sometimes associated with lip smacking movements. These seizures can evolve into convulsive seizures.

Collaboration With UofL School of Medicine for Your Child’s Care

Our providers offer highly skilled care for your child. Norton Children’s Hospital serves as the primary pediatric teaching facility for the Univ