Neurology and Neurophysiology

The Division of Pediatric Neurology of the Montreal Children’s Hospital provides care for children with complex neurological conditions. 

Referrals received in Pediatric Neurology must first undergo a triage process. If you have any questions about the status of your referral please note that this information can only be provided once triage has been completed. If accepted, the referral is entered on our waiting list; please note that you are not contacted until we have an opening in our clinic.

If a referral does not meet our referral criteria, it is either redirected to an affiliated clinic, or returned to your referring physician. Your physician is requested to contact you with that information.

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Our Team

The Division of Pediatric Neurology of the Montreal Children’s Hospital is made up of nine pediatric neurologists.

Division Director

Pediatric Neurologists

Physiatrist

  • Dr. Gaétan Filion

Nurses

  • Heather Davies, advanced practice nurse
  • Sanaz Shadvar, nurse clinician 

Social Worker

  • Stephanie Racicot

Chief technician, Neurophysiology

  • Annie Remillard

Research Associates

Residency Program Co-Directors

  • Dr. Kenneth Myers

For more information on the Residency Program:

For more information on Postgraduate Medical Education Fellowships:

Where the care happens

The Division of Pediatric Neurology of the Montreal Children’s Hospital receives many requests for inpatient consultations. These patients are seen in the hospital’s medical and surgical wards, complex care department, intensive care units and emergency department on a regular basis.

We also care for patients who have been referred to us by health professionals from the community. The majority of clinic visits are held in the A2 South or A3 North outpatient clinic areas of the hospital. These clinics are held on weekdays from Monday to Friday. We sometimes request that patients undergo certain tests before coming to the clinic for the first time. During the patient’s first visit, the neurologist will do a physical examination and take a detailed medical history of the child’s symptoms through a discussion with the family or the caregivers. The results of any prior testing will be reviewed during this visit.

Following the child’s first visit, there may be a need to arrange for tests such as an EEG (Electroencephalogram, recording of the brain’s electrical activity using electrodes on the scalp), EMG (Electromyography, recording of the electrical activity in nerves and muscles), blood tests or imaging studies such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

Programs and services

The Division of Pediatric Neurology of the Montreal Children’s Hospital provides care for children with challenging and complex neurological conditions.

Neurophysiology laboratory:

  • Electroencephalogram (EEG): recording of the brain’s electrical activity using electrodes on the scalp
  • Electromyography and nerve conduction studies (EMG): recording of the electrical activity in nerves and muscles

Outpatient clinics:

  • General Neurology
  • Epilepsy or convulsive disorders;
  • Neurodevelopmental disabilities (i.e. global developmental delay, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, developmental language impairment)
  • Neuromuscular disorders
  • Headaches that are resistant to treatment
  • Complex movement disorders
  • Neurogenetic and neurometabolic disorders
  • Neurocutaneous disorders
  • Demyelinating disorders and  multiple sclerosis
  • Stroke
  • Neuroinflammatory disorders
  • Neuro-oncology
  • High-risk survivors of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Neurophysiology Laboratory

Children visit the Neurophysiology laboratory for testing and monitoring of symptoms related to seizures, paroxysmal disorders, or neuromuscular diseases. Our team is proud to be part of one of the best epilepsy surgery programs in Canada, finding solutions for children whose seizures had been intractable. Our team members evaluate children with drug-resistant epilepsy – those who have ongoing seizures despite trials of at least two anti-epileptic medications. For these children, other treatment approaches are considered including the ketogenic diet and various surgical interventions.

We perform a variety of tests including:

Electroencephalography (EEG): EEG measures the electrical patterns in the brain. Standard EEG is a painless and safe procedure which involves recording electrodes placed on the scalp. EEG recordings are useful when evaluating children with possible seizures or other signs of brain dysfunction.

Electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conduction studies: EMG is the evaluation and recording of electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. Nerve conduction studies are used to evaluate the health of the nerves in our arms, legs, and other parts of the body outside the brain. These tests are helpful when evaluating children with suspected neuromuscular diseases. The department also offers monitoring services for the departments of Neurosurgery and Orthopedics.

Evoked potential: An evoked potential is the electrical response of the brain to a sensory stimulus. This procedure is performed on a child to see how they react to a certain situation when the stimulus is brought on in a controlled medical environment. Evoked potentials are used to test the functioning of the pathways that detect a sensory stimulus and convey that information to the brain. 

Electrocorticography (ECoG), or intracranial EEG (iEEG): ECoG and iEEG are techniques the use of electrodes placed directly on, or in, brain tissue in order to collect information that allows precise localization of regions of the brain that may be giving rise to seizure. ECoG may be performed either in the operating room during surgery (intraoperative ECoG) or outside the surgery room (extraoperative ECoG). In the case of surgery, this procedure is used to explore the functional anatomy of the brain, mapping speech areas and identifying the somatosensory and somatomotor cortex areas that would not be surgically removed.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS): VNS involves surgical implantation of a pacemaker-like device in the chest, with an electrode that applies electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve, located in the neck. This technique is used for drug-resistant epilepsy when other surgical intervention is not appropriate or possible. The stimulation settings are adjusted by a neurologist using an external device.

Research
Resources for parents

You can visit this section for informative resources about issues that your child could experience.

Migraines
Migraines in children are the most common acute and recurrent headache pattern experience by children. They are often incapacitating experiences and often involve accompanying symptoms of nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting.

Consult this document for more information.

Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic seizure disorder meaning that the brain has an underlying predisposition to generate seizures. 

Consult this document for more information and tips on how to deal with epilepsy. 

Transition
Your child is growing up, how exciting! Visit the transition page for tips and information on navigating this new period in their life. 

Administration of Midazolam
Are you interested in learning how to properly administer Midazolam? Click on this link for key information and important facts!

 

Refer a patient 

REFERRALS TO SEE A NEUROLOGIST

By fax: 514-412-4373

By email: [email protected]
   and attach PDF files only 
   NO OTHER FORMATS  WILL BE PROCESSED

To communicate with the division: 514-412-4446

Opening hours: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

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REFERRALS TO NEUROPHYSIOLOGY (EEG, EMG)

Fax: 514-412-4225

To communicate with the department:

514-412-4471, Room: B 02.3227

Opening hours: 7:30 am to 3:30 pm