Spectrum of Neurological Disorders Encountered at The Neuropediatric Outpatient Clinic at Children’s Hospital, Cairo University

Background: The various neurological disorders pose a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality among children. They pose significant social and economic challenges as well. Aim of work: To identify the spectrum of neurological disorders among the children attending The Pediatric Neurology Clinic at Children’s Hospital, Cairo University. Methods: Analysis of data of the files of all patients attending the Pediatric Neurology Clinic over a period of 6 months from May 2019 till November 2019. All patients younger than 14 years old were included. Results: A total of 2819 patients with different neurological disorders were seen during this time interval, their mean (+/- Standard Deviation) age was 9.13 +/-7.02 years with a male predominance 59.9% vs 40.1% females. Epilepsy was the most common neurological disorder encountered accounting for about 778 cases (27.6%), whereas global developmental delay for differential diagnosis accounted for 480 cases (17.03%), followed by metabolic disorders (10.7%) and cerebral palsy (7.24%). Conclusion: There is a wide spectrum of childhood neurological disorders among our studied population that demands multidisciplinary team involvement for diagnosis, management and follow up. Our endeavor is challenged by the shortness of professionally trained manpower, as well as limited financial resources for proper access to expensive therapies, all pose great challenge in dealing with patients with neurological disorders in our country