Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting up to 1 percent of the population in the United States. More than 45,000 children are diagnosed with epilepsy every year.
Epilepsy is a treatable disorder, with two-thirds of patients becoming seizure free on medication. Even for those who may not respond to medication, epilepsy surgery and electrical brain stimulation may be effective alternatives. Advancements in our understanding of the causes of epilepsy and new treatments continue to offer hope to even more patients.
The process to decide whether you are a candidate for surgery involves a thorough medical history and physical examination, including brain wave monitoring and other tests. The goal is to identify a specific source of seizures in your brain that can be safely removed without affecting important brain controlled functions.
Each year, our team sees over 2,000 children with pediatric epilepsy in our outpatient clinics, and evaluates more than 300 children in our dedicated state-of-the-art Pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. More than 100 children with severe conditions undergo epilepsy surgery annually. The broad range of services offered by a unified group of pediatric epilepsy specialists makes ours one of the foremost programs of its kind in the world and among one of the only in the country that provides a well-rounded range of care for every pediatric epilepsy patient.
We are here to help you and your family. Take advantage of this opportunity to have your questions answered by board-certified pediatric epilepsy specialists Ajay Gupta, M.D. and Deepak Lachhwani M.D.
About the Doctors:
Ajay Gupta, M.D. is the head of the section of Pediatric Epilepsy in the Epilepsy Center within the Neurological Institute. Dr. Gupta is an expert in the field of childhood and adolescent epilepsy with emphasis on epilepsy surgery evaluation, difficult to treat epilepsy, and management of epilepsy in the setting of cortical dysplasias and neurocutaneous disorders such as Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and Sturge-Weber syndrome. Dr. Gupta is also a skilled specialist in intra-operative neurophysiological techniques used during brain surgery to map regions of brain for critical function (motor, speech control etc.) as well as malfunction (seizure origin, brain tumors etc.). His expertise attracts national and international consultations from families and practicing neurologists who seek a second opinion.
Deepak K. Lachhwani, MBBS, MD, is a Staff Pediatric Epileptologist at the Epilepsy Center within the Neurological Institute. Dr. Lachhwani’s particular interests lie in treating children with medically refractory epilepsy, functional neuroimaging, pediatric epilepsy surgery and ICU monitoring of neonates and children. His research interests revolve around these fields, with specific reference to clinical outcomes after epilepsy surgery in children with tuberous sclerosis, Stroke, Rasmussen’s encephalitis and medically refractory status epilepticus. He also directs the activities of the Pediatric Epilepsy Support Group, which offers a unique platform for educating and supporting families of these children.
To make an appointment with Dr. Gupta, Dr. Lachhwani or any of our other pediatric epilepsy specialists, please call 216.636.5860 or 866.588.2264. You can also visit us online at clevelandclinic.org/epilepsycenter
This Health Chat will open on
Sunday, March 3, 2013
to allow you to submit questions. We will try to answer as many questions as possible during the chat. Please create an account to attend the chat and submit your questions.