New developments of Epileptic syndromes in very young infants

International Conference on Epilepsy & Treatment

September 21-22, 2015 Baltimore, USA

Raili Riikonen

Kuopio University Hospital, Finland

Keynote: J Neurol Disord

Abstract :

Epileptic syndromes of very young infants presented here are the following: Early epileptic encephalopathy or Ohtahara syndrome, migrating partial seizures of infancy and West syndrome which are presented in more detail here. New advances are the following; 1. Expansion of electro-clinical, radiological and pathological disease spectrum 2. Explanation for pathogenesis of some of the syndromes 3. Evidence-based data for pharmacological treatments of West syndrome 4. Recent results of ICISS study from UK 5. Enlarged indication for the use of ketogenic diet and surgery 6. Better known side effects of vigabatrin. New options in pipe-line are rapamycin and anti-inflammatory drugs. Future research should include multi-centric RCT trials with multiple treatment arms, management of relapses, prevention of infantile spams, prevention of visual field defects followed by vigabatrin, understanding of brain maturation, etiology, mechanisms and genetics underlying infantile spasms may facilitate more effective intervention.

Biography :

Raili Riikonen is a Research Consult at the Children`s Hospital and Science Service Centre, Kuopio University Hospital. She is a Specialist in paediatrics and child neurology (University of Helsinki) and health administration (University of Tampere) and Professor of Child Neurology and Head in Turku, Helsinki and Kuopio. Her clinical and research interests include epilepsy (especially infantile spasms), nerve growth factors, autism, Rett syndrome, FAS, MS, stroke. She has many publications (104 originals, 28 reviews/book chapters, and 100 abstracts). She is a Member of the Epilepsy Surgery Board, University of Kuopio for 10 years and an Invited Visiting Professor, UBC, Vancouver 2008.

Email: raili.riikonen@kolumbus.fi