You can be confident your child is receiving the best possible care at Loma Linda University Children’s Health. Home to one of the largest and most active pediatric epilepsy services in California, we offer a full range of evaluation tools and therapies to help children with epilepsy live their best lives.

Why Choose Us For Your Child’s Epilepsy Care

  • All the experts your child needs: Our epilepsy team includes a highly experienced group of pediatric epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, and neuropsychologists.
  • State-of-the-art care: Our team uses resources, technologies, and procedures that help us offer your child the best possible epilepsy care. These include a dedicated Pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, advanced brain imaging, and surgical procedures such as robotic guided surgery and laser ablation.
  • The latest treatments: We have expertise in all current treatment options, including dietary therapy (ketogenic diet) and neuromodulation (vagal nerve stimulator, responsive nerve stimulator).
  • Comprehensive services: Your child has the full support of the Complex Epilepsy Team Center, a CCS clinic staffed by epileptologists, nurse practitioners, social workers, and dietitians.

National Association of Epilepsy Centers

Loma Linda University Children's Hospital is accredited by the NAEC as a level 4 epilepsy center. Level 4 epilepsy centers have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy.

First Seizure Clinic

First Seizure Clinic helps your child learn about and manage their seizures. We strive to:

  • Care for kids who have had their first, unprovoked seizure-like episode*.
  • Provide expedited access to a pediatric neurologist for seizure evaluation and management.
  • Give in-depth education and counseling about seizures and the risk of epilepsy.
  • Reduce the number of times your child has to visit the emergency department or stay in the hospital.

Clinic Availability

First Seizure Clinic is a weekly clinic. Our goal is to see first-time seizure patients within 2 weeks of referral. The clinic is open to any patient less than 18 years of age.

*Our clinic does not see children who experience a clear simple febrile seizure or a seizure provoked by concussion, hypoglycemia, drugs or alcohol. This clinic is not a substitute for hospital admission and an in-hospital evaluation when clinically appropriate. Children who are deemed to be unstable or at risk of a rapid clinical deterioration should be evaluated as appropriate outside this clinic.

The Complex Epilepsy Team Center

The Complex Epilepsy Team Center (CETC) is a CCS clinic for children with medically intractable epilepsy. Staffed by epileptologists, nurse practitioners, dieticians, social workers, and nurses, the CETC specializes in the treatment of epilepsy in children who do not respond to conventional epilepsy medications. Treatment options offered at the CETC include:

  • evaluation for epilepsy surgery
  • evaluation and management of the Ketogenic Diet and other dietary treatments of epilepsy, and
  • neuromodulation, including the Vagal Nerve Stimulator.

Epilepsy Surgery Conference

Epilepsy Surgery Conference is a collaborative effort in the evaluation and management of people with medically intractable epilepsy who may be epilepsy surgery candidates. Staffed by adult and pediatric neurosurgeons, epileptologists, neuroradiologists, neuropsychologists, and nursing coordinators, this clinic meets weekly to evaluate adults and children for epilepsy surgery. Clinical history, EEGs, Imaging (MRI, PET scans, SPECT scans), and neuropsychological testing (clinical, fMRI, Wada) are reviewed to determine the safety and efficacy of any resective surgical procedure.

Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet has been available for more than 70 years and is most typically employed in children with medically refractory seizures. The diet involves minimizing carbohydrate and protein intake while increasing the amount of fats in the diet. This causes the body to make ketone bodies that work in the brain to help suppress seizure activity. Specialized clinic staff, including epileptologists, dieticians, and nurse practitioners, closely monitor and guide families for optimizing the diet to maintain ketosis.

Vagus Nerve Stimulator Clinic

The vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) is an implantable device used for the treatment of medically intractable epilepsy. Patients undergo rigorous evaluation to ensure that their seizures are not amenable to surgical resection and that VNS implantation is an optimal choice. Following implantation, the patient is followed closely for VNS setting adjustments to maximize seizure control and, when possible, decrease medications. Approximately 160 patients at Children's Hospital have VNS devices. These devices are managed by all the pediatric epileptologists (Drs. Loeb, Tang-Wai, Pichon, and Sallowm), as well as several of the pediatric neurologists (Drs. Shu and Michelson). There is a weekly VNS clinic where patients of any provider can be scheduled for VNS adjustment, while long-term care is continued by the patient’s primary neurologist.