Pediatric epilepsy syndromes with associated developmental impairment

Abstract

In 2022, the International League Against Epilepsy revised their classification of epilepsy syndromes for clinicians to better understand the relationships between different epilepsy syndromes, their underlying causes, and their associated developmental and behavioral features. This review highlights portions of the current classification with an emphasis on epilepsy syndromes that readily present with developmental challenges and provides a unique framework, based on electroencephalography, to easily identify and understand these syndromes. Included in this review are a helpful categorization scheme with visual aid, descriptions of updated epilepsy syndromes, figures of relevant identifiers of syndrome and information regarding future directions toward treatment and research. Covered syndromes include developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, Dravet syndrome, Rasmussen syndrome, and infantile epileptic spasm syndrome, among others. What this paper adds: The revised epilepsy syndrome classification by the International League Against Epilepsy aims to improve the outcomes for children with epilepsy. The electroencephalography features of epilepsy syndromes are grouped based on a categorization model. This model allows clinicians to understand overlapping phenotypes and aid with both identification and diagnosis.