Neurointerventional Radiology Program

Vascular conditions in the brain and spine can be some of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat, but an innovative, minimally-invasive solution is offered at Children’s National Hospital. Neurointerventional radiology uses imaging to guide our experts' work in treating these vascular conditions. Utilizing the technology of very small catheters, our specialists can access parts of the brain that would normally be inaccessible or would require more invasive surgery.

Choosing Children’s National for Pediatric Neurointerventional Radiology

When seeking treatment for your child, you can rest assured that you'll receive outstanding care at Children's National, with our commitment to:

• Caring for your child’s overall well-being – as well as their condition. We care about your child's mental and emotional health, in addition to his or her physical diagnosis. We’re with you from the beginning, through diagnosis, treatment and long after, to ensure that your child is doing well. In addition, whereas many hospitals utilize doctors who primarily treat adults to handle pediatric cases, our dedicated Neurointerventional Radiology (Neuro IR) Program director is an established leader in the field and has the required expertise in the endovascular treatment of children.
• Safety. An overarching goal in the Department of Radiology is to reduce the amount of radiation a child needs during procedures. Our Neuro IR Director, Monica Pearl, M.D., has been at the forefront of developing and teaching techniques which result in the reduction of required radiation for cerebral angiography. We have radiation reduction protocols in place in order to keep our patients safe.
• Innovation and vision for the future. Our experts in the Neuro IR Program are always looking for ways to use technology to make treatments better for children. One example of this is using neurointerventional radiology to deliver medicine to the brain for the treatment of brain tumors. We are actively creating a new field of treatment for children that requires less medicine and more targeted delivery.
• Research. Our current research efforts explore better drug delivery to the brain, challenge the status quo for the treatment of intractable seizures in the brain (hemimegalencephaly), and expand our ability to provide chemotherapy into the primary blood supply at the back of the eye for retinoblastoma – a rare cancer of the retina.
• Multidisciplinary collaboration. Through our program's work with related care services at Children's National, we are leveraging our experts' knowledge to provide the best possible care for children. 

Contact Information

For more information, please call our main office at 202-476-1540. To schedule an appointment within Pediatric Neurointerventional Radiology, please call our scheduler, Keisha Watts, at 202-476-6410 or email us. 

Patients will need prior imaging (neuro imaging, CT/MRI/US) uploaded to our imaging system and have related medical records available for our review.