Semiology of focal paediatric seizures

When managing a child with focal epilepsy, the focus is on localizing the epileptogenic zone. In this seminar, we will explore how to analyze seizure videos – whether brought by parents or recorded during video-EEG monitoring to formulate hypotheses regarding the seizure onset zone. In pediatrics, we often face challenges such as the child’s difficulty in expressing subjective symptoms, as well as behavioral disorders or developmental delays, which can make it difficult to distinguish ictal events from non-epileptic behavioral episodes. We will discuss how symptom analysis can help differentiate between epileptic and behavioral disturbances.

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding the clinical and radiological correlations of seizures
• Understanding the unique aspects of pediatric seizure semiology
• To be able to use video analysis as part of the presurgical workup
• To effectively interact with young or developmentally delayed children during seizures