Rare Pediatric Epilepsies and Sleep Disorders Center
Rare Pediatric Epilepsies and Sleep Disorders Center (RPESDC) is the largest center for the diagnosis, treatment, training and research of rare epilepsy and sleep disorders in Lithuania. A team of specialists interested in rare epilepsy and rare sleep disorders in children gathered in 2015. The center provides a wide range of outpatient, day hospital and inpatient services - comprehensive, internationally compliant medical care for children with rare epilepsy and / or sleep disorders and their families.
The Center provides pediatric neurologists, pediatricians specialized in rare diseases, neurosurgeons, geneticists, pediatric and adolescent psychiatrists, radiologists, pediatric nephrologists, dieticians, medical psychologists, and other specialists consultations. We employ the most advanced diagnostics: genetic testing, computer electroencephalography with video surveillance, polysomnography, actigraphy, magnetic resonance and psychological examination, as well as modern treatment technologies: drug treatment with antiepileptic drugs, steroids, ketogenic diet, immunosuppression, and neurosurgical treatment (vagus nerve stimulation, callosotomy, lobectomy, etc.). Patients treated at the center are constantly consulted by a medical psychologist, individual rehabilitation programs are established when appropriate.
Patients and their relatives receive important information by attending an epilepsy school on a regular basis.
Rare Pediatric Epilepsies and Sleep Disorders Center is one of the largest centers in the Baltics in terms of the number of consultations performed. In 2019, 5892 consultations, 20 operations, 2536 neurophysiological tests were performed. The Center has over 900 children in the monitoring system. Clinical, biochemical, microbiological, immunological and genetic tests, advanced disease detection methods and radiological diagnostics are performed to track the course of the disease. From 2019, the Center, as part of the Rare Epilepsy Center, is an affiliated member of the European Network of Reference Centers.
The center has developed a unique monitoring system that collects data on newly diagnosed cases, tracks the course of the disease and evaluates the effectiveness of treatment. The data collected in it is analyzed and constantly updated.
Pediatric neurologists have many years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric epilepsy and sleep disorders. The latest neurophysiological tests are used for diagnostics, which are performed in a cozy, special laboratory adapted for children.
Since 1999 the Center uses computer electroencephalography to write EEGs for children during vigilance and sleep states. In 2009, the first laboratory for sleep disorders in Lithuania was established after acquiring a polysomnography device. Children from all over Lithuania with primary sleep disorders (narcolepsy, parasomnias, etc.) and secondary (patients with other nerve diseases) have been studied. Since 2018, we have begun using actigraphy for children with insomnia and sleep-wake arrhythmias.
Epilepsy is diagnosed in neonates with an integrated amplitude electroencephalograph and in infancy (video electroencephalography).
We collaborate tightly with all centers and departments in Santaros Klinikos as well as foreign immunological (Wieslab immunological research laboratory in Sweden), genetic laboratories for rare genetic epilepsy (Blueprint genetic research center in Finland; Centogene genetic research laboratory in Germany, etc.), Bethel clinic in Germany for the examination of epilepsy patients and surgical treatment of epilepsy.
Rare Pediatric Epilepsies and Sleep Disorders Center prioritizes the development of biomedical research that promotes medical innovation, with patients being the first to receive new advanced therapies. The Center organizes and develops epidemiological studies of treatment outcomes and continuously improves treatment protocols based on the principles of evidence-based medicine. The doctors of the center regularly participate in international conferences, where they update their knowledge and present the results of relevant and new research carried out at the center. The Center conducts international clinical trials in patients with epilepsy and / or sleep disorders.
We participate in the activities of the Lithuanian Society of Neurologists, the Lithuanian Society of Pediatric Neurologists, the Lithuanian Society of Epileptologists, the International Baltic Pediatric Association, the International ITHACA Center, and organize scientific-practical conferences for students, residents, physicians and patients. Our staff teaches Vilnius University students, residents, and other specialists who want to raise their qualifications.
