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UH Standard of Practice for Ketogenic Diet

New Patients

For the initiation of the ketogenic diet patients are primarily admitted to RBC5. The diet has also been requested for patients in PICU or on RBC7 epilepsy monitoring unit.

Current Patients

Patients currently on the diet may be admitted to any floor in the hospital. Parents and the UH dietitians are your best source for the latest information on their diet or formula. Meals and formula recipes can be found in the ketodietcalculator program.

For patients started on the diet from other medical centers, information will have to be obtained from the parents.

In some cases the parents will bring prepared meals with them when readmitted. Parents may request that Nutrition Services weigh and measure all meals. Some parents may bring their scale with them from home and select from the menu and weigh the food at bedside.

Your child’s health is important. Get expert care.

To schedule an appointment with a UH Rainbow pediatric epileptologist, call 216-286-6644.

Initiation of the Diet

Before consideration or admission for the ketogenic diet any infant or child with possible feeding difficulties should be evaluated by the OT/Speech Feeding team. This would include an infant/child that has coughing, choking, or gagging with liquids or solids, an inability to advance feeds and textures, food refusal, frequent respiratory illness, and poor growth. If a Modified Barium Swallow is recommended by the team it must be done before proceeding with the diet.

Neurology or Epilepsy service asks the dietitian to call parents interested in the ketogenic diet for their child. The family is contacted to provide overview of the diet, discuss hospitalization and answer questions.

Follow Up Care


Inpatient Dietitian

Marge Marsey RDN, LD
216-983-0312
Marge.Marsey@UHhospitals.org
Text Pager: 30944 Office: RBC706
Responsibilities include initial contact with families interested in the diet, gathering information in preparation for admission, management of the diet while hospitalized, follow-up by phone and email the first three months after discharge. A referral will be made for the outpatient dietitian for long term follow-up.


Outpatient Dietitians

Abby Reinier RDN, CSP, LD
216-844-0542
Abby.Reinier@UHhospitals.org
Appointment Line: 216-844-1499
Text Pager: 32165
Responsibilities include long term follow-up for patients on the ketogenic diet and initiation and follow-up for patients on the Modified Atkins diet. Since the Modified Atkins does not require fasting it is started in the outpatient setting.

Nicole Lidyard, RDN, LD
216-844-1765
Nicole.Lidyard@UHhospitals.org
If the child is also closely followed by Pediatric Gastroenterology then arrangements can be made with the ambulatory dietitian working with the GI service to follow the child as an outpatient.