Paediatric neuropsychiatry

The ISNB's Child Neuropsychiatry Unit is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system that begin in the age of development, from birth to 17 years of age, and require specific diagnostic tests and highly complex pharmacological therapies. The Child Neuropsychiatry Unit carries out diagnostic, therapeutic and research activities in particular in the field of epilepsy, neuromuscular and neuromotor pathologies, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and neurodevelopment and rare neurological diseases.

Care activities

The care activity involves taking charge of the patient by ensuring at least one specialist of reference and the implementation of specific service packages and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to be carried out, depending on the case, in outpatient, Day-Service, Day-Hospital or Ordinary Inpatient mode. Child Neuropsychiatry is responsible for PDTA: epilepsy and rare neuromuscular diseases in childhood. The pathologies followed are mostly chronic, often multi-systemic and multi-dimensional, and are managed through integration with the territorial services of NPIA and Basic and Community Paediatrics and with other organisational units of the ISNB.
The Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the ISNB is also a reference point for the free-choice paediatricians of the Azienda USL of Bologna for children aged 0-36 months with suspected ASD and for paediatricians and general practitioners for children/adolescents with suspected rare neuromuscular diseases. Children's Neuropsychiatry provides a 24-hour on-call service for the Paediatric (0-13 years) and General (14-17 years) Emergency Departments of the Maggiore Hospital, where urgent neurological examinations can be booked through the CUP and urgent neurological consultations are also carried out for children attending other hospital facilities of the Azienda USL Bologna.

Research activities

The main areas of research in Child Neuropsychiatry are

• epilepsy (drug trials, genetic and genotype-phenotype correlation studies, studies on cognitive-behavioural aspects related to epilepsy, structural and functional neuroimaging, neurosurgical therapy);
• neuromuscular diseases (clinical trials for knowledge of the natural history of the diseases and genotype-phenotype correlation, studies to identify specific muscle resonance patterns, neuropsychological evaluation, pharmacological trials, clinical network studies on the outcomes of innovative therapies).

Publications

See the main publications of this unit.

Staff

Duccio Maria Cordelli, Child Neuropsychiatrist,
DirectorAntonella Pini, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Antonella Boni, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Melania Giannotta, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Tullio Messana, Child Neuropsychiatrist

Angelo Russo, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Maria Cristina Scaduto, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Paola Visconti, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Annio Posar, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Margherita Santucci, Child Neuropsychiatrist
Gaia Scarpini, Child Neuropsychiatrist

Psychologists
Federica Resca
Vincenza Blunda
Ilaria Casari
Giulia Fiori

Nurses
Patrizia Capelli
Micaela Burzi
Monica Felicori
Giorgia Ortensi

Neurophysiology technicians
Angelo Guerra
Claudia Pelliccioni
Stefania Mazzini
Chiara Sandrini

Riccardo Not, Physiotherapist

Contact

Bellaria Hospital

Centralino
Telefono 051-622.51.11

Outpatient Area
Telephone 051-496.61.59
Fax : 051-496.60.69Fax for
ordinary wards : 051-496.60.99

Major Hospital

Centralino
Telefono 051-647.81.11

Child Neuropsychiatry Outpatient Clinic
Telephone 051-647.81.24