Transforming Care in Childhood Epilepsy: Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Children is devoted to advances in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders in children. Beyond seizures, it often affects behavior, cognition, and overall quality of life. Despite the availability of numerous antiseizure medications and surgical options, approximately one-third of children continue to experience drug-resistant epilepsy. This highlights the urgent need to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms and pathophysiology of epilepsy and to translate these insights into more effective prevention and treatment strategies.

In the past decade, significant progress has been made in this field. Advances in risk factor identification now include genetic variants and structural brain abnormalities revealed through advanced neuroimaging. Mechanistic studies have uncovered key roles of dysregulated molecular pathways, altered neurotransmitter systems, and neuroinflammation in epileptogenesis. Prognostication has improved with predictive models for surgical outcomes, EEG biomarkers such as high-frequency oscillations, and genetic predictors of treatment response. Clinically, the emergence of minimally invasive surgical approaches and novel neurostimulation devices has expanded therapeutic options. Collectively, these advances have already enabled many children to achieve improved seizure control and better quality of life.

This Special Issue aims to highlight both scientific and clinically relevant developments in pediatric epilepsy research and care. We welcome both original research and comprehensive reviews in areas such as

• Epidemiology and risk factors in pediatric epilepsy;
• Innovations in diagnostics, including neuroimaging, neurophysiology, and genetics;
• Mechanistic insights into epileptogenesis and comorbidities;
• Emerging and established treatment approaches: pharmacological, dietary, neuromodulatory, and surgical;
• Inter-relationships between epilepsy and other common pediatric disease states.

Our goal is to provide an authoritative overview of recent progress that simultaneously serves as a valuable resource for education, training, and clinical practice.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Debopam Samanta
Guest Editor

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• seizure
• children
• drug-resistant epilepsy
• epileptogenesis
• neuroimaging
• genetics
• biomarkers
• neuromodulation
• epilepsy surgery
• precision medicine