Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 28, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Diagnostic significance of Wada procedure in very young children and children with developmental delay
Floor E Jansen1, Aag Jennekens-Schinkel, Alexander C Van Huffelen
1Department of Child Neurology, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands. f.e.jansen@neuro.azu.nl
Insights
The Wada procedure, used to map brain function before epilepsy surgery, is applicable even in very young or developmentally delayed children. This test provides crucial information for surgical decisions in pediatric epilepsy cases.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery
Background:
- Intractable epilepsy in children necessitates localization of neurological functions before surgical intervention.
- The Wada procedure is a critical diagnostic tool for pre-surgical evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the applicability and utility of the Wada procedure in pediatric patients with specific challenges.
- To evaluate the Wada test's effectiveness in guiding epilepsy surgery decisions for young, developmentally delayed, or behaviorally disturbed children.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 16 children under 10 years old or with IQ scores below 50, including critically ill and behaviorally disturbed individuals.
- Information on motor, language, and memory functions was collected during the Wada procedure.
Main Results:
- Successful information retrieval was achieved for motor (13/15), language (9/13), and memory (5/11) functions.
- Nine children proceeded to epilepsy surgery without postoperative neurological deficits.
- Five children did not undergo surgery due to Wada test results or insufficient data; one child became seizure-free pre-surgery.
Conclusions:
- The Wada procedure is valuable for surgical decision-making in epilepsy, even in challenging pediatric populations.
- This diagnostic tool aids in determining the appropriateness of epilepsy surgery in very young, developmentally delayed, or behaviorally disturbed children.
Abstract:
Localization of vital components of neurological functioning has to be performed before epilepsy surgery can be considered in children with intractable epilepsy. This study reports the experience with the Wada procedure in very young children and/or developmentally delayed children with an a priori considerable chance of failing the procedure. The aim of this study was to indicate the applicability of this procedure in this patient group. The Wada procedure is described in 16 children under 10 years of age and/or have intelligence quotient scores below 50 and/or are critically ill and/or are behaviourally disturbed. Information on motor, language and memory functioning is obtained in respectively 13/15, 9/13, and 5/11 children. Nine children underwent epilepsy surgery without postoperative impairment of neurological functioning. In five children epilepsy surgery was not performed because of the results of the Wada procedure or the lack of information during the Wada procedure. One child became seizure-free before surgery. Even in very young, developmentally delayed or behaviourally disturbed children, the Wada test can provide important information with respect to the decision pro or contra epilepsy surgery.
