At UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, our pediatric neurosurgeons offer a full range of procedures — including open and minimally invasive surgeries — to diagnose and treat all types of neurological disorders in infants, children, and teens.
Make An Appointment
We require a physician referral from your primary care provider or another UPMC Children’s specialist. You should check with your health insurance company to see if an insurance referral is required.
All necessary referral and authorization forms must be received before your child’s visit. For accurate provider numbers or to make an appointment, please call Pediatric Neurosurgery at 412-692-5090.
Diagnostic Testing
Our team uses the latest technology to perform comprehensive diagnostic testing, including:
- Cerebral spinal fluid analysis (spinal tap or lumbar puncture) — Involves inserting a needle into your child’s lower back to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for analysis in a lab.
- Cortical motor stimulation (CMS) — A test that is used during epilepsy or brain tumor surgery to identify areas of your child’s brain that control movement, speech, and the senses.
- CT scan — Creates images of your child’s brain and other structures to check for damaged or abnormal areas.
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) — Checks for abnormal electrical signals in your child’s brain.
- Electromyography (EMG) — Sometimes called an electromyogram, an EMG allows a doctor to record and study the electrical activity of your child’s muscles.
- Evoked potentials — Measure how quickly your child’s brain responds to sights, sounds, and sensations.
- Magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) scan — Creates images of blood vessels in your child’s brain.
- Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) - Is a tool that creates images or your child's brain or spine during surgery.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — Creates images of your child’s brain or spine to look for damaged or abnormal areas.
- Magnetoencephalogram (MEG) — Uses magnetic fields produced by electrical signals in your child’s brain to map brain function and diagnose conditions such as epilepsy and tumors.
- Myelogram — Uses contrast dye and real-time x-rays to create images of your child’s spine.
- Nerve conduction study (NCS) — Measures the speed of electrical activity passing through your child’s nerves.
- Neurological examination — A noninvasive test to check your child’s reflexes, balance, movement, memory, and ability to think.
- Neurosonogram — A type of ultrasound to check for brain abnormalities in unborn babies and infants.
- Phase 2 testing (brain mapping) — Uses electrodes placed in the brain to localize where seizures are beginning in the brain.
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan — Uses a radioactive tracer to create images that are used to diagnose problems with blood flow and other brain abnormalities.
- Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) — Uses a radioactive tracer to create images of organs, tissues, blood flow, and brain activity.
- Ultrasound (sonogram) — Uses sound waves to create real-time images of your child’s organs, bones, tissues, and blood flow.
Procedures
Procedures we offer include:
- Chiari malformation repair — The most common surgery for Chiari malformation type 1 in adults is posterior fossa decompression, in which the surgeon makes extra room to relieve pressure and let CSF flow freely.
- Corpus callosotomy — A procedure that cuts the tissue that connects the left and right sides of the brain. It can reduce the amount and severity of seizures.
- Craniotomy — A traditional approach to brain surgery that involves removing a section of the skull to provide access to the tumor.
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) — A procedure to treat seizures, dystonia, and tremors. It involves precisely placing electrodes, called leads, that deliver electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain, and connecting the leads to a battery-powered pulse generator implanted under the skin near the collarbone.
- Direct bypass procedures — Involve connecting an artery from your child’s scalp directly to an artery inside their brain to restore blood flow.
- Endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) — An innovative surgical technique used to remove brain tumors and lesions through the nose and nasal passages.
- Endoscopic intraventricular surgery — A procedure that uses an endoscope to treat tumors, lesions, and hydrocephalus (a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid) in the brain's ventricles.
- Endoscopic management of hydrocephalus — Also known as endoscopic intraventricular surgery, this procedure allows surgeons to treat CSF buildup in your child’s brain by removing a blockage (endoscopic cyst fenestration) and/or bypassing the area that is obstructed (endoscopic third ventriculostomy or endoscopic septostomy) to restore normal CSF circulation.
- Endovascular embolization — Performed by an endovascular neurosurgeon or an interventional neuroradiologist, this minimally invasive procedure cuts off blood flow to an anomaly. The procedure is performed using a catheter inserted into an artery in the groin and guided to the malformation.
- EXIT procedures — Performed through an incision in the uterus during a partial delivery of the fetus, while the umbilical cord is still attached. After the procedure, surgeons check to ensure the baby’s condition is stable before completing the delivery, cutting the umbilical cord, and closing the incisions.
- Focal cortical resection — Involves removing a small area of the outermost layer of the brain called the cortex to prevent focal seizures.
- Hemispherectomy — A type of hemispheric surgery, hemispherectomy involves disconnecting one hemisphere of the brain from the other.
- Hemispherotomy — Another type of hemispheric surgery, hemispherotomy involves disconnecting the outer part of one hemisphere of the brain from the other hemisphere and from the brainstem.
- Indirect bypass procedures — Involve placing an artery or muscle onto the brain’s surface and allowing it to grow new blood vessels over time.
- Intrathecal baclofen therapy — An intrathecal pump — sometimes called a "pain pump" — is implanted under the skin in the abdomen to deliver small quantities of a medication called baclofen directly into the spinal fluid. Baclofen is used to manage symptoms of spasticity.
- Minimally invasive corpus callosotomy with laser ablation — Also known as laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), this procedure uses a laser and MRI guidance to sever the corpus callosum, which connects the brain’s hemispheres.
- Minimally invasive fetoscopic surgery — Performed through a small incision in the abdomen and uterus using a flexible tube with a light and camera on the end called a fetoscope. The camera transmits images of the surgical area to a screen, allowing the surgeon to see it and perform the procedure using special instruments inserted through the tube.
- Minimally invasive skull base surgery — Uses specialized tools and tiny incisions (or no incisions at all) to remove tumors at the base of the skull.
- Myelomeningocele repair — UPMC pediatric neurosurgeons offer two types of fetal surgery to address myelomeningocele: minimally invasive fetoscopic surgery, performed through a small incision in the abdomen and uterus using a fetoscope, and open surgery, performed through a longer incision in the abdomen and uterus. In both, the fetus remains inside the uterus during the procedure. After the procedure is complete, the uterus and abdomen are closed so the pregnancy can proceed.
- Neuroendoscopic surgery — A minimally invasive technique in which surgeons operate using a thin tube with a high-definition camera and light called an endoscope. Neurosurgeons at UPMC pioneered a minimally invasive technique for removing deep-brain tumors using an endoscope through a small, clear tube, called a Neuroendoport®. This tube, or port, which has the circumference of a dime, allows surgeons to reach tumors with minimal trauma to the surrounding brain tissue.
- Pial synangiosis — A type of indirect bypass using an artery from the scalp to treat moyamoya disease and create a new blood supply pathway for the brain over time.
- Responsive neurostimulation (RNS) — Implants a small device in the brain that detects seizure activity and delivers mild electrical pulses to shorten or stop the seizure.
- Sclerotherapy — Involves injecting chemicals into the malformation to cut off blood flow and shrink it over time.
- Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) — A procedure to treat spasticity and dystonia that involves cutting sensory nerve fibers in the spinal cord to weaken the overactive reflexes that cause muscle tightening.
- Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) — Also known as stereotactic electroencephalography, Phase 2 testing, or brain mapping, SEEG is a minimally invasive surgical procedure to precisely locate the areas in the brain where epileptic seizures start. It involves placing electrodes directly into the brain to monitor seizure activity.
- Stereotactic radiosurgery — Uses highly precise radiation beams to destroy malformations in the brain or spine.
- Surgical removal — Involves using open or minimally invasive surgical techniques to remove the malformation.
- Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) — Uses an implantable device to control seizures by sending electrical pulses to the brain through the vagus nerve in the neck.
- Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt — A common treatment for hydrocephalus, this procedure involves surgically implanting a device that drains cerebrospinal fluid from the brain into the abdomen, so it can be reabsorbed by the body.
Procedures by Service Line
