Shannon McGuire, MD
Director
Neurology/Epileptology

Lori McBride, MD
Neurosurgery

Chris Arcement, MD
Neuroradiology

John Courtney, PsyD, MP
Neuropsychology

Cherie Young, REEGT, SMIM
Neurodiagnostics

Mary Wood, RD
Pediatric Dietitian

Cheryl Jenning, RN
Nurse Coordinator

Margaret Haydel, GSW
Social Services
 

At Children’s Hospital, we recognize that children and epilepsy, and their families, have special needs. Combining advanced technology and medical practices with compassionate care, we aim to attain the best seizure control and quality of life for children with epilepsy.

The Children’s Hospital Epilepsy Center is dedicated to the comprehensive care of children with epilepsy. Our multidisciplinary team includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, social workers, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists, dietitians and nurses who provide assessment of children with epilepsy and support for their families. The only comprehensive, pediatric facility in Louisiana and Mississippi, the center attracts patients from throughout the Gulf South.

The center offers consultative services to primary care physicians, neurologists and neurosurgeons, as well as long-term management of children with seizure disorders.

Diagnostic services
The center offers advanced testing to confirm epilepsy and classify the seizure type. Using video EEG monitoring and correlation with brain imaging such as MRI, fMRI, SPECT and PET scanning, neurologists can efficiently and accurately diagnose patients.

Medical management
Our epilepsy team reviews all prior anticonvulsant drug treatments and recommends appropriate drug therapy based on the type of seizure and type of epilepsy. The center participates in investigational trials of new seizure medications that may help some children.

When medical management is not enough
About 25 percent of children with epilepsy have difficult-to-control seizures that do not respond to medication, or they have significant side effects of the medications. For these children, the Children’s Hospital Epilepsy Center offers alternative treatments, such as the ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation and epilepsy surgery.

Dietary treatment for seizures
The center has had extensive experience with the ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that has been used for over 80 years in the treatment of epilepsy. The diet is effective in up to 50 percent of cases including all seizure types and all ages. The ketogenic diet permits seizure control without some of the complications of medications, but it must be rigidly controlled under medical supervision.

Vagus nerve stimulation
The vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) is a pacemaker-like device that sends signals to the brain to block seizures. The center began using VNS since it was first introduced as a standard for treatment in children. It is an alternative to dietary treatment, medications and epilepsy surgery.

Epilepsy surgery
In some case, brain surgery may offer the best seizure control and quality of life for children with difficult-to-control epilepsy. Selection of cases for surgery depends on careful localization of the site of seizure onset, which often requires recording of seizures directly from the brain, and careful localization of critical brain functions such as memory, language and motor abilities.