Le Bonheur named a Dravet Syndrome Comprehensive Care Center

The Le Bonheur Neuroscience Institute’s Dravet syndrome program was recently named a Dravet Comprehensive Care Center by the Dravet Syndrome Foundation.

Le Bonheur’s program is one of only 13 in the country certified by the Foundation as a facility with a high level of expertise and resources offering multidisciplinary care for children with this type of epilepsy.

“This designation reflects our continued commitment to providing the best care for children with rare epilepsies,” says Chief Pediatric Neurologist and Co-director of the Neuroscience Institute James Wheless, MD. “Our clinicians have an excellent track record of diagnosing and treating every aspect of a child with Dravet syndrome.”

Dravet syndrome is a rare form of epilepsy that typically begins in the first year of life and is diagnosed before the pre-school years. It has a genetic cause — mutations in the SCN1A gene.

This designation reflects our continued commitment to providing the best care for children with rare epilepsies.

Le Bonheur’s Neuroscience Institute offers a variety of medications for seizures caused by Dravet syndrome as well as multidisciplinary care for cognition, behavior and sleep. The Center is actively engaged in research protocols and clinical trials for seizures, their causes and new treatments.

Le Bonheur is expanding the neuroscience partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the launch of a translational neuroscience institute. Research will focus on untreatable epilepsies with genetic causes, such as Dravet syndrome.

“With this partnership we can expand our treatment protocols by offering new treatments for children with genetic epilepsies,” said Wheless. “This complements continued participation in clinical trials and our efforts to bring the very best treatments to children.”