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Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE

About Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE

Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE, has been interested in the treatment of chronic pain since she was an undergraduate at Amherst College, Amherst, MA, and focused on pediatric pain while pursuing her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

Dr. Szperka completed residencies in pediatrics and child neurology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, and a fellowship in headache medicine at The Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  She is board certified in Headache Medicine.

Dr. Szperka divides her time between patient care and projects aimed at improving the treatment of children with headaches across CHOP and beyond. In 2013, she was named director of the newly formed Pediatric Headache Program. She has received grants to improve clinical care of and treatment options for headache.

Titles

Attending Physician

Assistant Professor of Neurology in Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Certifications

Child Neurology – American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Headache Medicine – National Headache Foundation

Awards and Honors

2018, America's Most Honored Professionals Top 5%
2018, Philadelphia Magazine, Top Doctors in Child Neurology
2017, Exceptional Women in Medicine
2016-2018, 2022, Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctors in Child Neurology
2016, Emerging Leaders Program, American Headache Society
2015, Participant, CHOP Clinical Quality Improvement Course
2015-2017, 2022, Main Line Today's Top Doctors in Pediatric Neurology
2014, Participant, International Headache Academy, Scottsdale, AZ
2014, Participant, Women in Leadership Program
2010, Scottsdale Headache Symposium Scholarship Award Recipient, American Headache Society
2001, Magna Cum Laude, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
2001, Frank Fowler Dow Prize for anticipated career of distinction in medicine, Amherst College

Leadership and Memberships

Memberships in Professional Organizations

International
  • 2017-present, CGRP Education & Research Forum
    • 2017-present, Editorial Advisory Board
National
  • 2017-present, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders & Stroke
    • 2017-present, Diagnostics and Characteristics Subgroup
  • 2017-present, American Registry for Migraine Research
    • 2017-present, Scientific Advisory Board
  • 2010-present, American Headache Society
    • 2018-present, Membership Committee
    • 2018-present, Clinical Informatics Section, Chair
    • 2017, Fellow
    • 2016-present, Clinical Informatics Section
    • 2010-present, Pediatrics Section
  • 2007-present, Child Neurology Society
    • 2014-present, Headache Special Interest Group
  • 2007-present, American Academy of Neurology
    • 2018-present, Headache Outcome Measures Revision Workgroup
    • 2012-present, Headache and Facial Pain Section
    • 2012-present, Child Neurology Section

Editorial and Academic Positions

Editorial Positions

2017-present, Peer Reviewer, JAMA Neurology
2013-present, Peer Reviewer, Cephalalgia
2012-present, Peer Reviewer, Pediatric Emergency Care
2011-present, Peer Reviewer, Headache

Academic and Institutional Committees

2011-present, CHOP Neurology Quality & Patient Safety Committee

Education & training

Graduate Degree

MSCE - University of Pennsylvania, Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA

Medical Degree

MD - Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Internship

Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Residency

Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Child Neurology - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Fellowship

Headache - Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
T-32 Fellow - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Additional Training

Mentor Training for Clinical & Behavioral Researchers - University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Team affiliations

View fewer all team affiliations View all all team affiliations

Publications

Publications

2018

Chelsea M. Hesterman, Christina L. Szperka (co-first authors), Dana P. Turner: Reasons for Manuscript Rejection After Peer Review From the Journal Headache. Headache. 2018 Jul 16. doi: 10.1111/head.13343. [Epub ahead of print]

Beres SJ, Sheldon CA, Boisvert CJ, Szperka CL, Paley GL, Burrows EK, Chilutti MR, Liu GW, McCormack SE, Liu GT. Clinical and Prognostic Significance of Cerebrospinal Fluid Opening and Closing Pressures in Pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. Pediatr Neurol. 2018 Jun;83:50-55. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2018.02.011. Epub 2018 Mar 30.

Patterson-Gentile C, Szperka CL. The Changing Landscape of Pediatric Migraine Therapy: A Review. JAMA Neurol. 2018 Mar 12. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.0046. [Epub ahead of print]

Patel AD, Berg AT, Billinghurst L, Fain D, Fecske E, Feyma T, Grinspan Z, Houtrow A, Kothare S, Kumar G, Lee E, Monduy M, Morita D, Szperka CL, Victorio MC, Yeh A, Buchhalter JR. Quality improvement in neurology: Child neurology quality measure set: Executive summary. Neurology. 2018 Jan 9;90(2):67-73. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004806. Epub 2017 Dec 15. No abstract available.

2016

Szperka CL, Gelfand AA, Hershey AD. Patterns of Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks and Trigger Point Injections for Pediatric Headache: Results of a Survey of the American Headache Society Pediatric and Adolescent Section. Headache. 2016 Nov;56(10):1597-1607. doi: 10.1111/head.12939. Epub 2016 Oct 12.

2014

Carrie O. Dougherty, Michael J. Marmura, Zuhal Ergonul, Larry Charleston, and Christina L. Szperka: Emergency and Inpatient Treatment of Migraine: An American Headache Society Survey. British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research 4(20): 3800-3813, 2014.

2009

Florance NR, Davis RL, Lam C, Szperka C, Zhou L, Ahmad S, Campen CJ, Moss H, Peter N, Gleichman AJ, Glaser CA, Lynch DR, Rosenfeld MR, Dalmau J: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis in children and adolescents. Annals of Neurology 66(1): 11-8, Jul 2009.

Abstracts (includes Posters and Scientific Presentations)

2018

Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: Intravenous Dihydroergotamine Associated Chest Pain in Pediatric Headache Patients. 47th Annual Meeting of the Child Neurology Society, Chicago, IL October 2018. Presented: October 15-18, 2018.

Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: Effectiveness of Intravenous Dihydroergotamine for Pediatric Headache: Does Headache Diagnosis Matter? American Academy of Neurology 70th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.  April 2018 Notes: Presented April 25th, 2018

Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: The cardiovascular impact of intravenous dihydroergotamine for pediatric headache patients American Academy of Neurology 70th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.  April 2018 Notes: Presented April 24, 2018.

AA Kohli, A Vossough, RM Mallery, J Woo, GL Paley, CA Sheldon, GT Liu, CL Szperka: The Persistence of MRI Findings in Pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society 44th Annual Meeting (poster), Hawaii, The Big Island March 2018 Notes: Presented March 6, 2018.

2017

Szperka, Christina L & Rondinelli, Monica J: Intranasal Dihydroergotamine for Headache Exacerbations in Children and Adolescents. American Headache Society 59th Annual Scientific Meeting, Boston, MA. Poster Presentation June 2017.

Lectures by Invitation

2019

"Procedure Workshop" American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. May 2019.

2018

Szperka C. "Procedure Workshop" at American Headache Society Scottsdale Headache Symposium, Scottsdale, AZ. Nov 2018.

Szperka C. "Procedure Workshop" at American Headache Society Scottsdale Headache Symposium, Scottsdale, AZ. Oct 2018.

Szperka C. "Procedures in Special Populations (Pediatrics, Pregnancy, Geriatrics) with Cases"  as part of the Course: A Practical Approach to Procedures in Headache Medicine: A Review of Current Evidence and Cases in Clinical Practice.  American Headache Society 60th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Jun, 2018.

2017

Szperka C. "Diagnosis & ED/Inpatient treatment of Headaches"  Virtua-Voorhees Hospital - Pediatric Grand Rounds. Nov, 2017.

Szperka C. "Painful Neurology - Headache Cases" Advances in Stroke and Foundations of Neurologic Practice 2017 (CME course), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Nov, 2017.

Szperka C. "Leveraging the Electronic Medical Record for Headache Diagnosis and Treatment of Pediatric/Adolescent Patients". Clinical Informatics Pre-Meeting Course, Scottsdale Headache Symposium. Nov, 2017.

Szperka C. "Pediatric Headache" Interview for PBS Documentary. Jun, 2017.

Szperka C. "Pediatric Patient and Parent Goals and Preferences for Preventive Headache Treatment," Platform Presentation, American Headache Society 59th Annual Scientific Meeting, Boston, MA. Jun, 2017.

Szperka C. "Update on Pediatric & Adolescent Headache". American Academy of Neurology. Breakthroughs in Neurology Conference, Phoenix, AZ. Jan, 2017.

Editorials, Reviews, Chapters

2016

Sheldon CA, Lin GL, Szperka CL, McCormack SE, Liu GT.  : Pediatric pseudotumor cerebri syndrome. Practical management of pediatric ocular disorders and strabismus. Traboulsi EI, Utz V, Ariss M, eds. (eds.). Springer Science 2016.

2015

Szperka CL & Smith D: Chapter 16: What are the most common types of headache in children? Curbside Consultation in Pediatric Neurology: 49 Clinical Questions Daniel Licht & Nicole Ryan (eds.). Slack Incorporated, July 2015.

Szperka CL & Robbins E: Chapter 19: Are there ways to prevent migraines? What lifestyle factors contribute to headaches? Curbside Consultation in Pediatric Neurology: 49 Clinical Questions  Daniel Licht & Nicole Ryan (eds.). Slack Incorporated, July 2015.

2012

Szperka CL and Narula S: Headache. Pediatric Neurocritical Care. NS Abend and MA Helfaer (eds.). Demos Medical, November 2012.

2011

Szperka CL: Headache. Netter Pediatrics. Florin TA and Ludwig S (eds.). Elsevier Saunders, Page: 471-478, 2011.

About the Patient Experience Rating System

The Patient Experience Rating is an average of all responses to the care provider related questions shown above from our nationally-recognized Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey. Patients that are treated in outpatient or hospital environments may receive different surveys, and the volume of responses will vary by question. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score. We are committed to true transparency. However, to ensure the comments are fair and correctly attributed, we review each one before posting to the website. We exclude entire comments that disclose patient’s protected health information, are off-topic, or include other confidential or inappropriate content. Comments will appear on provider bios only if providers have a minimum number of comments. Comments are shared internally for education purposes to ensure that we are doing our very best for the patients and families for whom we are privileged to care. The comments are submitted by patients and families and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not reflect the views of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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