Carolyn Zook Lewis – Common Neurological Disorders in Childhood: Recognition, Evaluation and Care

Outline

The Developing Brain: Fragile, but Resilient

• Overview of brain development
• Brain malformations – causes and outcomes
• Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy – management and long-term consequences
• Skull malformations – plagiocephaly or craniosynostosis?
• Assessment of microcephaly and macrocephaly
• Evaluation and management of hydrocephalus

Important Clues from the Neurological Evaluation

• Keys to obtaining a clinical history
• Helpful hints for the neurological exam
• Neurodiagnostic, radiologic and laboratory testing
• The emerging world of genetics

Head and Brain Injuries

• Recognize mild and more serious head injuries and when to seek medical care
• Types of head and brain injuries
• Recognize sports-related concussions and sports in which they most often occur
• Immediate and long-term effects of concussion
• Recognize and evaluate infant non-accidental trauma
• Risk factors and long-term outcomes of non-accidental trauma

Headache and Migraine in Children: What You Need to Know

• Key components to the physical, neurological and psychosocial assessment
• Taking a headache history
• Red flags and when to be concerned
• Headache triggers and prevention
• Pharmacologic and nonpharmacological management
• Rebound headache prevention and management
• Assessment and treatment of pseudotumor cerebri

Seizures: A Parent’s Worse Fear

• How to recognize a seizure
• Current recommendations for evaluation of febrile seizures
• Education and management after the first seizure
• Diagnosing and treating epilepsy
• Establishing a seizure treatment plan

Autism and Intellectual Disability

• Early signs and symptoms and assessment tools
• Diagnostic criteria for autism
• DSM-IV®- DSM-5®changes
• The evolving role of genetics

Cerebral Palsy

• Recognition and types of cerebral palsy
• Treatment options

Complex Care of the Child with Chronic Neurological Conditions and Severe Neurological Impairments

• Feeding difficulties
• Management of constipation
• Behavioral and pharmacologic strategies for promoting sleep
• Interventions for behavior management
• Healthcare monitoring
• Challenges of adolescence
• Supporting the family
• Special considerations for the child with severe neurological impairment