Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access

New methods to identify and cure a common cause of medically intractable epilepsy

4^th International Conference on Pediatrics & Pediatric Emergency Medicine

March 29-31, 2016 Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Larry D Olson

Emory University, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Pediat Therapeut

Abstract :

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disease in childhood and fourth most common in adults. Up to 30% of cases cannot be controlled with medication. The most common cause of these medically refractory seizures is a focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), a localized region in the cortex where neuronal formation, migration or lamination is abnormal. These are often seen with high resolution MRI and are easily resected with a cure rate of up to 85%. However, FCDs are also very often â�?�?cryptogenicâ�?, extremely small, subtle or inapparent on MRI. This talk will explore why conventional neuroimaging frequently fails and the development of new methods of image processing which combine MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) in novel ways to expose otherwise invisible FCDs. This process permits successful surgical cures of an otherwise lifelong disease with a significant morbidity and mortality.

Biography :

Email: lolson@emory.edu