First Time Seizure Evaluation

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Neurosurgery Team

(502) 583-1697

The New Onset Seizure Clinic, part of Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, is the leading provider of seizure evaluation in children from Louisville, Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. We’ll determine the cause of your child’s seizure and whether more seizures are likely to occur.

Our board-certified and fellowship-trained team of neurologists and neurosurgeons use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to pinpoint your child’s diagnosis. It’s one reason Norton Children’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center has held the highest rating available from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers since 2013.

Our specialists use their skills and experience to create a customized treatment plan that minimizes side effects, so your child can get back to being a kid again.

At our New Onset Seizure Clinic, we discuss what type of seizure may have occurred, what may have caused the seizure and risk factors for additional seizures in the future.

Imaging to Evaluate the Brain

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is performed on a 3T (magnet) scanner to look for subtle abnormalities in the brain structure.
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI looks at real-time changes in the brain as the child performs tasks such as reading, listening to words or moving arms and legs. This helps to locate these functions within the brain.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET) scan. This test evaluates areas of the brain that are metabolizing sugar faster or slower than other areas. This helps identify the area of the brain where partial seizures start.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Our team performs routine outpatient EEGs at several locations in Louisville. During this painless 20- to 40-minute procedure, 20 electrodes are placed on the scalp to monitor brainwaves. The information enables team members to better define the seizures. The team may obtain long-term EEG monitoring by video, which typically captures seizures.

Our team also may perform intracranial EEG monitoring by placing electrodes on the surface of the brain and inside the brain tissue. This procedure pinpoints where seizures begin in the brain. Norton Children’s Hospital offers state-of-the-art stereo EEG for this kind of monitoring.

Neuropsychiatric Testing

This specialized testing helps locate certain functions of the brain, such as language and memory. A neuropsychologist performs this test.

Additional tests for locating language or memory in the brain include a Wada test (named for Juan Wada, M.D., who first performed it). This involves putting one area of the brain “to sleep” so that another area of the brain can be tested.

Why Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute?

  • The Norton Children’s Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Center is a Level 4 epilepsy center, the highest rating available from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. Norton Children’s Hospital has held this designation since 2013.
  • We are the first in Kentucky and among the first in the nation to use neurostimulation in a pediatric patient.
  • Regional neurology care is available for children across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. We travel to clinics in Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Corbin, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Owensboro and Paducah, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana. We also perform a number of telemedicine visits each week.
  • The specialists with Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, use state-of-the-art technology to treat epilepsy, uncontrollable seizures and deep brain tumors in children who, in the past, would not be candidates for surgery, including:
    • Visualase: Technology that allows neurosurgeons to perform MRI-guided laser ablation surgery. Fewer than two dozen pediatric hospitals in the U.S. offer this technology.
    • Surgical Theater: Virtual reality technology that creates an immersive 3D view of a patient’s brain, allowing neurosurgeons, the patient and family to see inside the skull and brain to get a greater understanding of the condition and impact of potential procedures. Norton Children’s Hospital is the first hospital in the region to use this technology.
  • We offer dedicated multidisciplinary clinics for brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, spina bifida, craniofacial injuries and disorders, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, spasticity, headache/migraine, autism and neurocutaneous disorders.
  • Our multidisciplinary craniofacial program was the first established in the Midwest.
  • We offer a neurogenetics clinic to evaluate and treat children with neurogenetic syndromes.
  • We have a neuropsychology program that specializes in the evaluation of children and teens with a variety of neurological, neurodevelopmental and medical conditions, including brain tumors and epilepsy.
  • Outpatient neurology facilities in downtown Louisville are equipped with in-office electroencephalography (EEG) capabilities and laboratory services in the same building, creating a streamlined, family-centered environment.
  • We offer the region’s first clinic to treat children with immune-mediated neurological disorders.

A first-time seizure in a child can be scary.

The neurologists and other specialists at Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, are skilled at determining the precise cause of your child’s first seizure and whether more are likely.

Our board-certified and fellowship-trained team of neurologists and neurosurgeons use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools along with their extensive experience to pinpoint a diagnosis.

NAEC Level 4 Epilepsy Center

It’s one reason Norton Children’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center has held the highest rating available from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers since 2013.

Our specialists use their skills and experience to create a customized treatment plan after a child’s first seizure to help your child can get back to being a kid again. We’ll evaluate what type of seizure may have occurred, what may have caused the seizure and risk factors for future seizures.

A child’s first seizure may lead to an epilepsy diagnosis, but not always.

Imaging to Evaluate the Brain

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is performed on a 3T (magnet) scanner to look for subtle abnormalities in the brain structure.
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI looks at real-time changes in the brain as the child performs tasks such as reading, listening to words or moving arms and legs. This helps to locate these functions within the brain.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET) scan. This test evaluates areas of the brain that are metabolizing sugar faster or slower than other areas. This helps identify the area of the brain where partial seizures start.

Electroencephalography

After a child’s first seizure, it’s not uncommon to perform routine outpatient electroencephalography (EEG). During this painless 20- to 40-minute procedure, 20 electrodes are placed on the scalp to monitor brainwaves. The information enables team members to better define the seizures. The team may obtain long-term EEG monitoring by video, which typically captures any seizures.

Our team also may perform intracranial EEG monitoring by placing electrodes on the surface of the brain and inside the brain tissue. This procedure pinpoints where seizures begin in the brain. Norton Children’s Hospital offers state-of-the-art stereo EEG for this kind of monitoring.

Neuropsychological Testing

This specialized testing helps locate certain functions of the brain, such as language and memory. A neuropsychologist performs this test.

Additional tests for locating language or memory in the brain include a Wada test (named for Juan Wada, M.D., who first performed it). This involves putting one area of the brain “to sleep” so that another area of the brain can be tested.

A Wada test may be performed if neuropsychological testing and fMRI do not provide enough information.

Why Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute?

  • The Norton Children’s Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Center is a Level 4 epilepsy center, the highest rating available from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. Norton Children’s Hospital has held this designation since 2013.
  • We are the first in Kentucky and among the first in the nation to use neurostimulation in a pediatric patient.
  • Regional neurology care is available for children across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. We travel to clinics in Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Corbin, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Owensboro and Paducah, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana. We also perform a number of telemedicine visits each week.
  • The specialists with Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, use state-of-the-art technology to treat epilepsy, uncontrollable seizures and deep brain tumors in children who, in the past, would not be candidates for surgery, including:
    • Visualase: Technology that allows neurosurgeons to perform MRI-guided laser ablation surgery. Fewer than two dozen pediatric hospitals in the U.S. offer this technology.
    • Surgical Theater: Virtual reality technology that creates an immersive 3D view of a patient’s brain, allowing neurosurgeons, the patient and family to see inside the skull and brain to get a greater understanding of the condition and impact of potential procedures. Norton Children’s Hospital is the first hospital in the region to use this technology.
  • We offer dedicated multidisciplinary clinics for brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, spina bifida, craniofacial injuries and disorders, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, spasticity, headache/migraine, autism and neurocutaneous disorders.
  • Our multidisciplinary craniofacial program was the first established in the Midwest.
  • We offer a neurogenetics clinic to evaluate and treat children with neurogenetic syndromes.
  • We have a neuropsychology program that specializes in the evaluation of children and teens with a variety of neurological, neurodevelopmental and medical conditions, including brain tumors and epilepsy.
  • Outpatient neurology facilities in downtown Louisville are equipped with in-office electroencephalography (EEG) capabilities and laboratory services in the same building, creating a streamlined, family-centered environment.
  • We offer the region’s first clinic to treat children with immune-mediated neurological disorders.

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