Pediatric Neurosurgery

Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery

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Call 310-825-5111 to learn more about our world-class pediatric neurosurgery services.

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World-Class Expertise in the diagnosis and surgical management of pediatric epilepsy

Over the past 4 decades, we have pioneered novel treatments, protocols, diagnostic tools and evidenced-based guidelines that are being used by many children’s hospitals throughout the world. We continue to push the boundaries of possibilities through expert care and compassion while inventing the future of epilepsy surgery. Watch Video: A Modern and Comprehensive Approach to Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery.

We have decades of experience with over 2000 epilepsy operations performed since the program’s inception, including over 100 new surgical cases per year, making our program one of the highest volume centers in the world. We have a “No child will be left behind” mentality when it comes to our patients. The underlying theme to our program revolves around two critical questions: 1) Can the part of the brain that causes the epilepsy be identified and safely treated? 2) Does the control of the epilepsy restore a more normal life experience?

Epilepsy in children can be severely debilitating, but early diagnosis and treatment can be instrumental in helping a child reach full cognitive potential. The majority of children who are able to have surgery become seizure free. Some require anticonvulsants but others remain seizure free, even after the medications have been stopped. Some of the most common conditions that we treat with epilepsy surgery include cortical dysplasia, perinatal cerebral infarcts, temporal lobe lesions, gliosis, hemimegalencephaly, Rasmussen syndrome, Sturge-Weber syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, Hypothalamic Hamartomas and Epilepsy caused by brain tumors, cavernous malformations of arteriovenous malformations.

We are truly a comprehensive surgical epilepsy program as we offer the entire spectrum of diagnostic surgeries including stereotactic electroencephalography and subdural grid implantation, resective epilepsy surgeries ranging from very focused resections to large hemispheric resections as well as MR- guided laser thermal therapy for minimally invasive treatments. For children that are deemed not a candidate for resective surgery, we have access to implanting the latest generation of vagal nerve stimulators and responsive neurostimulation. Very few centers have access to the latest technologies and have expertise with the whole spectrum of surgical procedures to treat pediatric epilepsy.

We have weekly multidisciplinary meetings including pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric neurologists, pediatric neuroradiologists, child psychiatrists, pediatric neuropsychologists, neuropathologists and nursing where we discuss the unique features of each child’s epilepsy to determine the optimal management plan.

Our faculty each have a focused area of clinical and research interest and are recognized leaders in their fields. We have ongoing research projects in identifying the biomarkers of epilepsy, developing novel treatments through ongoing clinical trials and predicting surgical outcomes through multi-center global collaborations. Our mission is simple: To improve the lives of children affected by epilepsy while focused on inventing the therapies of the future.

Fallah

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Recent Publications

Webinars

Hemispherectomy: When Half the Brain is Better than the Whole – Aria Fallah, MD
Modern and Comprehensive Management of Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery – Aria Fallah, MD

Children who continue to have seizures despite medical therapy may be candidates for curative epilepsy surgery
Curative Epilepsy Surgery (PDF)