Childhood Nervous System Diseases

1. Basic Overview

Childhood nervous system diseases are the second leading cause of disability and death in children, including congenital developmental malformations, genetic metabolic diseases, and acquired diseases (infection, trauma, tumors). The global prevalence in children is 3%-5%.

It includes the following common types: refractory epilepsy, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), cerebral palsy, pediatric brain tumors, hydrocephalus, and rare genetic neurological diseases. The nervous system of children is in the developmental stage, with rapid disease progression and high requirements for treatment timing, and it is easy to leave long-term neurological dysfunction affecting motor, intellectual and language development.

2. Standard Treatment Modalities

Drug therapy: Precision targeted drugs (e.g. Risdiplam for SMA), new anti-epileptic drugs, enzyme replacement therapy, and special diet for genetic metabolic diseases.
Surgical treatment: Epileptogenic focus resection, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS) for refractory epilepsy; selective posterior rhizotomy (SPR) and orthopedic surgery for cerebral palsy; microsurgical resection of brain tumors, shunt/endoscopic fistulization for hydrocephalus.
Neurorehabilitation therapy: Motor rehabilitation, speech and cognitive rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine rehabilitation.
Precision medicine and gene therapy: Whole-exome sequencing for precise diagnosis, gene therapy for monogenic genetic diseases, and autologous stem cell therapy (standardized clinical application).

3. Core Advantages of Treatment in China

Global leading genetic diagnosis capability

: China has the world's largest genetic database of pediatric neurological genetic diseases. Whole-exome sequencing has a short cycle (7-14 days) and the cost is only 1/4-1/2 of that in Europe and America, with a diagnostic positive rate of over 80% for rare neurological diseases.

Comprehensive treatment system for refractory epilepsy

: China has the second largest number of pediatric epilepsy surgery cases in the world (over 10,000 cases annually), with an effective rate of over 85%. It has rich experience in epilepsy surgery for infants under 3 months old, which is strictly restricted in many European and American centers.

Integrated treatment for cerebral palsy

: China has the largest number of SPR surgery cases in the world (over 100,000 cases), with an effective rate of over 90%. The original "surgery + rehabilitation + orthopedics" integrated system can significantly improve motor function and reduce disability rate, with higher accessibility and lower cost of long-term rehabilitation than Europe and America.

High accessibility of treatment for rare diseases

: Targeted drugs and gene therapy for SMA and other rare neurological diseases have been approved and covered by medical insurance in China, with an annual treatment cost of only a fraction of that in the US (the annual cost of Risdiplam in the US is about 750,000 USD, while it is only tens of thousands of RMB after medical insurance in China).

Featured integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine rehabilitation

: Acupuncture, tuina combined with modern rehabilitation technology has a significant effect on the recovery of neurological function after cerebral palsy, developmental delay and surgery, which is a unique advantage of Chinese treatment.