Archive for neurology
When surgery shapes your life: Moyamoya patient turned doctor
Elizabeth Kwak is living proof of how far the treatment of moyamoya has come. Twenty-four years ago, Elizabeth had pial synangiosis, a surgical treatment for moyamoya that was pioneered by Boston Children’s Hospital neurosurgeon Dr. R. Michael Scott in 1985. Today, Elizabeth is a fourth-year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine. She talks ... Read More
Advice for moyamoya families from a mom who’s been there
About a year ago, our 4-year-old daughter, Kalea, started having headaches. After four months, we called our pediatrician because the headaches were far from normal for Kalea and had progressed enough to become worrisome. The pediatrician advised us to track her headaches, and we learned that they fluctuated in frequency but were increasing in intensity. ... Read More
Mary’s journey with genetic epilepsy
Lots of people don’t like the heat. It makes them feel uncomfortable and sluggish. But for Mary, being outside on a hot day means risking a seizure. So can running in gym class or having a fever. That’s because Mary has genetic epilepsy, a form of Dravet syndrome — a rare epilepsy syndrome caused by ... Read More
Looking toward the future in epilepsy care and treatment
“There’s a revolution happening in epilepsy treatment,” says Dr. Philip Pearl, director of Boston Children’s Hospital Epilepsy Center. Dr. Pearl and other members of the center celebrate Epilepsy Awareness Month by sharing what excites them about the future of epilepsy treatment, from targeted therapies to minimally invasive surgeries, and their continued hope for our patients ... Read More
‘Face blindness’ may represent a failed brain network — and could shed light on autism
People with prosopagnosia, or “face blindness,” have trouble recognizing faces — even those of close friends and family members. While some people can compensate by using clothing and other cues, face blindness often creates serious social problems. It often becomes apparent in early childhood, but, rarely, people can acquire face blindness later in life after ... Read More
Staff spotlight: Meet genetic counselor Beth Rosen Sheidley
In honor of Genetic Counselor Awareness Day, we sat down with Beth Rosen Sheidley, MS, CGC, co-director of the Epilepsy Genetics Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, to learn about the field and practice of genetic counseling. What is the role of a genetic counselor? There are about 30 genetic counselors at Boston Children’s across many different departments and ... Read More
Libby’s story: Finding a surgical path to seizure control
Seven years ago, while my husband was visiting his parents in Washington, D.C., I traveled with our 3-year-old daughter, Libby, to Boston Children’s Hospital via ambulance from New Hampshire. Libby had been sick with a bad cold and had been acting unusually, with short episodes of rapid eye movement and stuttered speech. An epilepsy diagnosis ... Read More
Amelia makes a special connection with her EEG tech
Amelia arrived at Boston Children’s Hospital in August with a present in her small hands. The gift was for one of Amelia’s favorite people at the hospital, electroencephalographic (EEG) technician Katie Tucker. Tucker has been Amelia’s primary EEG tech since she was just 7 months old. “We first traveled up to Boston Children’s from New ... Read More
Finding the best care for Zeeva
When our 8-year-old daughter, Zeeva, giggles and runs in her walker to the swing set, it’s like watching pure childhood joy. Understanding what it has taken to get her to this point, though, is close to unimaginable. Zeeva is one of fewer than 150 people in the world with a rare disease called Gould Syndrome ... Read More
Two neuroscience rock stars elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Beth Stevens, PhD, and Elizabeth Engle, MD, are the latest Boston Children’s Hospital researchers to be elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine. Their election, together with Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, brings Boston Children’s total number of current NAM members to 22. Both scientists hail from the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s and are ... Read More