[MS8] Morning Seminar 8: Epilepsy

[MS8-3D-1] Overview on Epilepsy

^○Jo M Wilmshurst (Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Major advances have been made in the diagnosis, evaluation and management of children with epilepsy over the past 15 years. There has been a marked increase in genetic diagnoses of a number of key childhood-onset epilepsy syndromes, such as Dravet syndrome, with the discovery of mutations in the SCN1A region in 2001. The re-organisation and reclassification of epilepsies, devised by the International League Against Epilepsy, has stimulated specialists to reassess their diagnostic practices; however, many studies have not addressed the global issues in treating children with epilepsy, specifically the challenges of diagnosis through to optimal, and appropriate, therapeutic management. Also, there is a lack of Class 1 evidence-based data that is needed as a foundation for the development of treatment guidelines worldwide. Epilepsy is common and the impact of this disease crosses age ranges and should be managed at all levels of care from community to quaternary care. In this overview presentation important aspects of the existing data and new therapeutic management approaches are discussed.