UPMC’s Pediatric Neurosurgery Services Are Leading the Way in the Use of Robotic Surgery for Difficult-to-Control Epilepsies

At UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the Pediatric Neurosurgery Division in the Brain Care Institute bring together world-class multidisciplinary teams to provide the most advanced treatments and compassionate, patient-oriented care.

Whether your patient has epilepsy, a movement disorder, a neuro-immunologic or neuromuscular condition, muscular dystrophy, or a rare brain disease, specialists in pediatric neurosurgery, neurology, and physical medicine work together to deliver enhanced, integrated treatments.

“Multidisciplinary care is one of the most important aspects of my practice,” says Marty Piazza, MD, assistant professor of Neurological Surgery and Surgical Director of the Pediatric Surgical Movement Disorders and Neurosurgery Spinal Programs at UPMC Children’s. “Working closely with providers from different specialties allows us to make the most in-depth assessment of each patient and determine the best course of action to help them achieve their goals and maximize quality of life.”  These multidisciplinary groups also allow patients to see all their specialists in one visit.

When Surgery Is the Optimal Approach

The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery has special expertise in minimally invasive procedures. “We have developed expertise in minimally invasive methods, such as laser callosotomy and thalamic neuromodulation, as well as robotic surgery, to treat difficult-to-control generalized epilepsies,” says Taylor Abel, MD, associate professor of Neurological Surgery, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Surgical Director of the Epilepsy Center at UPMC Children’s. “We are also leaders in research on the effectiveness of these new techniques.”

Two of Dr. Abel’s papers have substantially advanced the understanding of the advantages of robotic surgery compared to more traditional methods.

Contributions of Robotics to the Safety and Efficacy of Invasive Monitoring with Stereoelectroencephalography, published in Frontiers in Neurology, and Frameless robot-assisted stereoelectroencephalography in children: technical aspects and comparison with Talairach frame technique, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, have helped establish the improved precision, reduced recovery time, and minimized risk of complications that robotic surgery provides, both in general and for patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy.

For Timely Referrals

If you are uncertain of the precise diagnosis of your patient’s condition and want to explore treatment options, contact us as soon as possible. “The biggest barrier to the neurosurgical care of our patients is the lack of timely referrals to our multidisciplinary clinic,” explains Dr. Piazza. “In order to best serve our patients, it is important to have the time to develop relationships and begin to discuss potential surgical treatment options early. Then we can go in depth to determine what is best for each patient.” 

Whether you want to make an outpatient referral, an inpatient referral or transfer a patient from an ED to UPMC Children’s ED, click here.

About UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Brain Care Institute

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children, teenagers, and young adults through excellence in patient care, teaching, research, and advocacy. Our patient safety and quality teams ensure that the Hospital is held to the highest of standards. Through an unwavering joint commitment to teamwork and excellence, we closely monitor care and seek opportunities to improve.

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is known nationally and internationally for excellence in pediatric medicine and for providing comprehensive, family-centered primary and specialty care. We use Continuous Performance Improvement, a methodology that achieves highly reliable and safe patient outcomes and encourages transformative process improvement.

• Children's achieved prestigious Magnet® recognition, granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to only 6 percent of hospitals nationwide. 
• Children’s became the first pediatric hospital in the United States to achieve a Stage 7 Award from HIMSS Analytics for achieving a virtually paperless patient record environment and the most comprehensive use of electronic medical records. 
• Children’s was recognized by KLAS, an independent health care research organization, as the leader in use of health care information technology among pediatric hospitals in the United States.
• Children’s was honored with an Excellence in Life Support Award from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).

The Brain Care Institute (BCI) at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is dedicated to developing innovative treatments and approaches for infants, children, and teens with disorders of and injuries to the brain, spinal cord, muscles, and nerves. It specializes in Neurology, Neurosurgery, Pediatric Critical Care, Neonatal Neurocritical Care, Neuro-Oncology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Neurogenetics, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Neurodegenerative Disorders, Neuroimaging, Neuro-Ophthalmology and Behavioral Health. At the Brain Care Institute more than 200 physicians, nurses, and staff treat more than 14,000 patients every year – patients who come to us from across the country and around the world.