Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Epilepsia. 2013 May;54 Suppl 2:16-8. doi: 10.1111/epi.12178.
Childhood is a vulnerable time--developmentally, socially, and cognitively. Any disruption may have long-standing effects on the attainment of critical developmental milestones. The impact of ongoing seizures and epilepsy in children is significant and may result in cognitive delay, poorer educational outcomes, and lower employment rates in adulthood. The early recognition, intervention, and treatment of evolving pharmacoresistant epilepsy in children presents a unique opportunities for health care practitioners. Seizure freedom is the ultimate epilepsy treatment goal, given the broad and long-standing effects of seizures in childhood. However, even when we believe the chance of seizure freedom is low, we should not let the perceived unlikelihood of that goal limit the treatments we offer. All children with pharmacoresistant epilepsy should be evaluated at a comprehensive pediatric epilepsy center. Failing to offer state-of-the-art treatments to these children only increases the burden of epilepsy on children and their families.
儿童期是一个脆弱的时期——在发育、社交和认知方面都是如此。任何干扰都可能对关键发育里程碑的实现产生持久影响。儿童持续癫痫发作和癫痫的影响是巨大的，可能导致认知延迟、教育成果较差，以及成年后就业率降低。儿童正在发展的耐药性癫痫的早期识别、干预和治疗为医疗保健从业者提供了独特的机会。鉴于儿童期癫痫发作的广泛和长期影响，癫痫无发作是最终的癫痫治疗目标。然而，即使我们认为癫痫无发作的可能性很低，我们也不应该让对这一目标的可能性的看法限制我们提供的治疗方法。所有耐药性癫痫患儿都应在综合性儿科癫痫中心进行评估。未能为这些儿童提供最先进的治疗方法只会增加癫痫对儿童及其家庭的负担。
