Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery: When, by Whom, and What to Expect?

Course Description
Epilepsy surgery is a highly successful treatment option for children with focal and lesional epilepsy. Despite its excellent seizure outcomes and cognitive benefits, surgery is still underutilized and a large treatment gap remains between geographical regions worldwide. This symposium aims to increase the awareness of epilepsy surgery, inform the audience about novel insights in surgical indications, timing, seizureand cognitive outcomes, and their determinants. We will present the newly defined ILAE criteria for different levels of care in pediatric epilepsy surgery centers and address minimum requirements for surgical procedures in the context of the existing treatment gap.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify candidates for epilepsy surgery and counsel children and parents about its expected seizure – and cognitive outcomes.
2. Name the two levels of care for pediatric epilepsy surgery centers and the main requirements to establish such centers. Impact Statements
3. Recognize indications for referral of children with epilepsy for presurgical evaluation.
4. Counsel patients and their parents about expected outcomes of epilepsy surgery.

Organizer:
Kees P.J. Braun; University Medical Center Utrecht, UMCU Brain Center, Utrecht, Netherlands

Epilepsy Surgery in Children: Indications and Seizure-outcome
Kees P.J. Braun

Cognitive and Behavioural Outcome after Epilepsy Surgery
J Helen Cross MB, ChB, PhD, OBE FRCP, FRCPCH; UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London UK

Criteria for Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Centers; What about the Treatment Gap?
William D. Gaillard, MD; Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA