NEUROSCIENCES CENTER Neurosciences Program Update
Epilepsy Surgery Program Names New Physicians Pediatric neurologist Satya Gedela, MD, MRCP(UK), has been named medical director of the Epilepsy Surgery Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. In addition, Jonathan Pindrik, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon, has joined Nationwide Children’s and works closely with Dr. Gedela and others that make up the Epilepsy Surgery Program. These new additions to the Neurosciences program highlight the expertise behind the Level 4 Epilepsy Center.
Satya Gedela, MD Jonathan Pindrik, MD As medical director of Epilepsy Surgery, Dr. Gedela focuses on the surgical aspect of epilepsy treatment and works closely with members of Neurosurgery. Advanced epilepsy surgery capabilities, which include evaluation with intracranial electrodes, are a key component for designation as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center, the highest level of epilepsy care outlined by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.
Dr. Gedela, who also serves as medical director of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Nationwide Children’s, is an associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He attended Andhra University and Andhra Medical College in India for his undergraduate and medical education, respectively. Completing his residency and pediatric training in neurology and epilepsy at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Gedela is board certified in pediatrics in three countries: India, England and the United States, in addition to his board certification in neurology and epilepsy in the U.S. His clinical interests include all aspects of pediatric epilepsy, epilepsy surgery and vagus nerve stimulator treatment for medically intractable epilepsy patients.
Dr. Pindrik, who joined Nationwide Children’s in 2015, completed a neurosurgery residency at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB), and Children’s Hospital of Alabama. While at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Pindrik was Chief Resident of Neurosurgery and also a research fellow, winning the prestigious Hartwell Foundation Biomedical Research Fellowship. Dr. Pindrik’s clinical interests include the surgical treatment of hydrocephalus and epilepsy. He has published more than 20 research manuscripts and book chapters on a variety of topics including treatment, endoscopic techniques and imaging diagnostics for hydrocephalus, spinal tumors, and other neurological issues. His ongoing research involves surgical interventions for epilepsy and hydrocephalus.
[continued] Advanced Focus in Epilepsy Surgery Epilepsy Surgery services at Nationwide Children’s involve an array of multidisciplinary specialists to care for the clinical, surgical and psychosocial needs of children with difficult-to-control epilepsy. Curative surgery for seizures includes operating on the portion of the brain responsible for seizure onset. Other special procedures (hemispherectomy, corpus callosotomy, implantation of vagus nerve stimulators) may be used to improve seizure control.
As a Level 4 Epilepsy Center, we are able to assess children with treatment-resistant seizures where the cause is identified by an imaging abnormality, as well as those whose MRI is normal. We also conduct functional cortical mapping by stimulation of subdural electrodes, either extra-operatively or intraoperatively.
Learn more about the Epilepsy Surgery Program at NationwideChildrens.org/Neurology.
Referrals and Consultations Online: NationwideChildrens.org/Neurology Phone: (614) 722-6200 or (877) 722-6220 | Fax: (614) 722-4000 Physician Direct Connect Line for 24-hour urgent physician consultations: (614) 355-0221 or (877) 355-0221.
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