Seeing your child have their first seizure is a stressful experience for the entire family. Our team at Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, led by experienced pediatric neurologists, is here to guide you through this uncertainty.

When you and your child visit our New-onset Seizure Clinic, our board-certified and fellowship-trained specialists use their clinical expertise and state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to pinpoint your child’s diagnosis.

During your visit, our team will help you understand what type of seizure may have occurred, where in the brain it came from, whether it represents epilepsy or another disorder, and any risk factor for additional seizures in the future. Together, we’ll create a customized treatment plan that focuses on your child’s unique needs, one that minimizes side effects and helps your child return to what they love doing.

Blood Tests

After your child has their first seizure, blood tests can help provide more insight into their seizure symptoms.
Our team may order blood and lab tests such as:

• Blood glucose test to rule out low blood sugar
• Complete blood count to check for a possible infection or anemia
• Comprehensive metabolic panel to assess kidney, liver and electrolyte balance
• Lumbar puncture to determine if an infection exists, like meningitis or encephalitis

Electroencephalography

After a child’s first seizure, it’s not uncommon to perform routine outpatient electroencephalography (EEG). Our team performs routine outpatient EEGs at several Norton Children’s locations. During this painless 20- to 60-minute procedure, electrodes are placed on the scalp to monitor brain waves. The information enables the care team to better define the seizures. The team may obtain long-term video EEG monitoring, which typically captures seizure activity in real time.

Our team also may perform intracranial EEG monitoring by placing electrodes on the surface of the brain and inside the brain tissue in certain patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. 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.

Imaging to Evaluate the Brain

Additional imaging can offer more insights on the structure and function of the brain. These may include:

• 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): An fMRI looks at real-time changes in the brain as the child performs tasks such as reading, listening to words, or moving their arms and legs. The scan helps 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 the seizure could be arising from.