Model Helps Predict Epilepsy Risk After Paroxysmal Events in Children

November 2, 2018

Clinicians from the Netherlands have developed and validated a model to help determine the risk of epilepsy in children who have one or more paroxysmal events.

Epileptic seizures in children may be under-recognized because of the heterogeneous clinical symptoms and limited sensitivity of the initial interictal EEG, Dr. Eric van Diessen of University Medical Center in Utrecht and colleagues note in Pediatrics, online November 2.

“Our model provides a rational approach to assist clinicians during the diagnostic process by combining routinely available clinical information in a multivariate way,” write Dr. van Diessen and colleagues.

“More specifically, we expect our model to be useful as an ‘independent’ screening tool to assess the likelihood of a possible seizure to be epileptic in origin and to help the clinician decide on the need for ancillary investigations or refer to an epileptologist. We consciously do not propose a single cutoff value for clinical decision-making because this is a decision rather than a diagnostic model,” they add.