Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a disorder that causes seizures or convulsions due to abnormal activity of brain cells, called neurons. In the United States, about 2 million people have this condition, including 300,000 children under the age of 14.

Often, the cause of epilepsy is unknown. It can be caused by head injury, trauma, brain tumors or infections, such as meningitis or encephalitis. Conditions at birth or before birth also may lead to epilepsy, including an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain, bleeding in the brain or abnormal blood vessels. Some types of epilepsy run in families and have been tied to specific genes. Although epilepsy may occur at any age, it typically develops in early childhood.

Pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons at the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at UCSF Children's Hospital specialize in the comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of infants, children and adolescents living with epilepsy. The center specializes in monitoring and treating the 10 to 20 percent of pediatric epilepsy cases that don't respond well to medication and are considered difficult to treat.

While epilepsy in children is similar in some aspects to the disease in adults, there are fundamental differences. When this condition develops early, a child's developing brain can adapt in a way that an adult's brain cannot. This flexibility allows the brain to reorganize important functions in other, unaffected areas and offers more opportunities for treatment.

Our diagnostic and treatment services have earned us a level four rating — the highest level — from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.

All hospital services are provided in a pediatric environment, including a full range of diagnostic tests, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to create images of the brain as well as electrical studies such as an electroencephalogram (EEG) to record and examine brain waves.

Treatments include medication, brain surgery, vagus nerve stimulation and experimental therapies that involve drugs, devices and surgery.

Audio Interview
Children with epilepsy who don't respond to medication may benefit from new surgical techniques available at UCSF Children's Hospital. Hear a Patient Power interivew with Dr. Joseph Sullivan, director of the UCSF Pediatric Epilepsy Center, on the latest treatments to control seizures.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated April 17, 2009