Neurology

The Division of Child Neurology evaluates and manages children with disorders of the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. The division provides neurological consultation and treatment for more than 100 disorders of infancy, childhood and adolescence, including seizures and epilepsy, headache, weakness, disorders of speech and gait, and tics. Our doctors aim to understand all aspects of the child’s functioning and then to develop a treatment plan with the entire family.

The Neurology division consists of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, Children's Epilepsy Center, the Electroencephalography (EEG) Laboratory and the Electromyography (EMG) Laboratory.

Consultative services are provided to patients admitted to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, including the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (ICUs), patients in the clinics and Emergency Department, as well as to patients in the newborn nurseries and ICUs at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.

In addition to its general child neurology clinics, Child Neurology offers the following specialty clinics:

• Epilepsy
• Neurofibromatosis
• Neuromuscular
• Tuberous Sclerosis
• Vagal Nerve Stimulator
• White Matter
• Tourette's
• EMG
• EEG
• Botox
• Mitochondrial Disease

During the past 25 years, the Neurology staff has performed more than 150,000 outpatient and 50,000 inpatient neurological evaluations. Each year, the staff cares for more than 5,000 infants, children and adolescents with neurological disorders in the outpatient clinics at Children’s Hospital in Oakland and its ambulatory care centers – Children’s North in Wexford, Children’s South in Bethel Park and Children’s East in Monroeville. This staff also performs approximately 2,500 inpatient visits and consultations, 3,600 EEGs, 1,200 video EEGs and 150 EMGs annually.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is the only provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient children’s neurological services in western Pennsylvania, and its Epilepsy Program is a nationally recognized Epilepsy Center.

Mission

The mission of the Division of Child Neurology is to provide technologically advanced clinical care to children with disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system while expanding its role in medical teaching and pushing the frontiers of developmental neuroscience research.

Referral Requirements

Referrals are required from primary care physicians or other Children’s Hospital specialty services. Referrals for patients enrolled in managed care insurance plans also may require authorization from the insurance provider and primary care physician. All necessary referral and authorization forms must be received before the patient’s visit.