Early Life Epilepsy Special Interest Group (SIG)

The Early Life Epilepsy SIG is a national group of clinicians and scientists whose mission is to facilitate collaboration on projects to improve our understanding and care of children with early life epilepsy (age of onset < 3 years).

Early Life Epilepsy (ELE) SIG Leaders: Emily Spelbrink, M.D., Stanford Children’s Health, and Krista Eschbach, M.D., Children’s Hospital Colorado

Member meetings

To join this Special Interest Group (SIG), please contact PERC’s Executive Director, Jane Zeender, at janeedperc@gmail.com. In order to join PERC, your institution must be a member, which involves a $250 annual membership fee (per institution), and a commitment from each member institution to actively participate in one or more SIGs. PERC’s Special Interest Groups typically meet via Zoom on a regular basis, in addition to meeting in person at national epilepsy conferences.

Early Onset Epilepsy Database

A prospective study of all early life epilepsies focused on their evaluations, diagnoses, treatments, and early outcomes.  Children from birth to 3 years of age with new onset epilepsy were followed prospectively for one year.

Several publications have resulted from this project including:

Early-Life Epilepsies and the Emerging Role of Genetic Testing.

Berg AT, Coryell J, Saneto RP, Grinspan ZM, Alexander JJ, Kekis M, Sullivan JE, Wirrell EC, Shellhaas RA, Mytinger JR, Gaillard WD, Kossoff EH, Valencia I, Knupp KG, Wusthoff C, Keator C, Dobyns WB, Ryan N, Loddenkemper T, Chu CJ, Novotny EJ Jr, Koh S. JAMA Pediatr. 2017 Sep 1;171(9):863-871.

Initial Treatment for Nonsyndromic Early-Life Epilepsy: An Unexpected Consensus.