Pediatric Epilepsy Program

Banner Epilepsy Program

Children with epilepsy may need a wide range of care depending on the type of seizures they experience. The Epilepsy Program at Riley at IU Health can help your family manage your child’s epilepsy.

Why Riley at IU Health for Epilepsy Care

Riley at IU Health has the only Level 4 Epilepsy Program in Indiana as defined by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC). Level 4 programs like ours have enhanced imaging techniques, clinical experts and innovative technology to perform advanced medical and surgical evaluations for patients with medically refractory epilepsy – epilepsy that’s hard to manage with medications. Our multi-disciplinary program is comprised of:

We diagnose and manage new onset epilepsy. Our team is experts in hard-to-treat intractable epilepsy. The Epilepsy Program is actively involved in epilepsy research and continues to innovate minimally invasive epilepsy surgery. Our team will work to find treatments that will control or reduce your child’s seizures.

Our program uses a wide range of expert knowledge to treat all types of epilepsy. These range from the most common to more rare forms, including:

Focal epilepsy syndromes due to:

  • Structural brain malformations or perinatal insults (stroke, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, hemimegalencephaly)
  • Low-grade tumors
  • Malformations (focal cortical dysplasia, heterotopias, schizencephaly)
  • Mesial temporal sclerosis
  • Neurocutaneous syndromes (tuberous sclerosis and Sturge-Weber syndrome)

Generalized epilepsy syndromes

  • Absence seizures
  • Atonic seizures
  • Tonic-clonic seizures
  • Genetic epilepsy syndromes
  • Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
  • Myoclonic seizures
  • Tonic seizures

Diagnosing Epilepsy

Our board certified pediatric neurologists are trained to treat epilepsy and seizures. They work with other doctors and nurses who are specialists in general pediatric neurology, neurosurgery and nutrition. They will work together to find the best treatment plan for your child.

Medically refractory epilepsy occurs when despite effective doses of multiple medications and diet, the chances of being cured is less than 3%. These patients undergo what’s called “Phase 1.” In this phase, noninvasive data is collected including:

  • medical history & physical exam
  • video EEG (VEEG)
  • structural and functional neuroimaging

This data is evaluated by a pediatric epileptologist and presented to the Epilepsy Program team. A care plan is then developed which could include:

  • Further testing
  • Medications or diet therapies
  • Surgery

What to Expect at Riley at IU Health

Our program coordinator ensures efficient timing for tests during the Phase 1 evaluation. We provide families education and training in managing epilepsy. We also educate families on using dietary therapies, including the modified Atkins and ketogenic diets. We offer a dietary therapy service on the third Tuesday of each month. There is also a seizure management class on Tuesday mornings.

We provide a five-bed monitoring unit to study patients and gain more information about their seizures. Patients who are being evaluated for surgery may also stay in this unit. The epilepsy specialists (epileptologists) use prolonged video electroencephalogram (VEEG) to better understand each patient’s seizure type and epilepsy syndrome. This information assists the patient’s neurologist in making appropriate treatment decisions.

As part of this comprehensive approach, patients see a neurosurgeon and epileptologist together following the Phase 1 evaluation to discuss your child’s care plan. This one visit provides increased convenience for patients and their families. The program also supports patients over time as children grow to ensure continued seizure freedom. A complete modern approach to epilepsy surgery is offered.

We are happy to discuss this evaluation with you or your child’s primary care doctors throughout the process. Many patients will be good candidates for epilepsy surgery. When patients are not indicated for surgery, or following the initial post-surgical period, patients continue to be managed by the referring provider.

Conditions Treated

Our pediatric specialists provide patient- and family-centered care for most related conditions. The links below provide more specific information about some, but not all, of the conditions that we treat.

Services Offered

We offer a number of different Pediatric Epilepsy Program services. Below are some, but not all, of the services that we provide. If you have a question about a specific service that is not listed here, please contact our program.

Doctors

Learn more about our experienced pediatric epilepsy providers at Riley at IU Health.

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    Locations

    Locations

    In addition to our primary hospital location at the Academic Health Center in Indianapolis, IN, we have convenient locations to better serve our communities throughout the state.

    Riley Outpatient Center at IU Health

    Pediatric Neurology
    575 Riley Hospital Dr
    Indianapolis, IN 46202

    317.948.7450

    Get Directions

    View location information

    Program Forms & Resources

    The Epilepsy Program at Riley at IU Health has curated relevant resources from other websites and provided links with brief descriptions of the information that is available.

    Resources

    Related Departments

    We provide multispecialty care for a number of conditions. Below are links to our related departments.

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    For Health Professionals

    Refer A Patient

    Refer A Patient

    The Epilepsy Program sees patients by physician referral. We provide referring doctors with detailed patient reports and want to build a rapport so patients can transition back to their referring doctors after we provide care. Referring physicians continue to manage their patients' care, including resuming care following epilepsy surgery if indicated. Our goal is to work collaboratively to improve outcomes for epilepsy patients.

    If you have a child who may benefit from this comprehensive evaluation through the Riley Hospital for Children Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, please send a referral to the Neurology department for comprehensive epilepsy or epilepsy surgery evaluation via fax at (317) 968-1193.

    Refer A Patient

    Education

    The Epilepsy Program is a teaching center where medical students and residents receive training in child neurology. Medical students and residents rotate through the program. Residents gain experience in performing EEG readings. Fellows in the adult neurophysiology program also work closely with the Epilepsy Program at Riley at IU Health.

    Education Resources: