Transforming Care in Childhood Epilepsy: Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment
A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neurology & Neurodevelopmental Disorders".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2026 | Viewed by 516
Special Issue Editor
Interests: epilepsy; child neurology; clinical neurophysiology; EEG analysis; tuberous sclerosis; neurometabolism; neurogenetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
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
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- seizure
- children
- drug-resistant epilepsy
- epileptogenesis
- neuroimaging
- genetics
- biomarkers
- neuromodulation
- epilepsy surgery
- precision medicine
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
