AAN 2022 | Challenges in diagnosing epilepsy
William Curt LaFrance Jr, MD MPH, FAAN, FANPA, DFAPA, Brown University, Providence, RI, describes the challenges in diagnosing epilepsy. Generally, Prof. LaFrance believes that many clinicians assume that patients coming in with seizures have epilepsy. Currently, 1% of the world gets diagnosed with epilepsy or another type of seizure disorder, yet around 5-20% of these patients do not have epilepsy but instead have non-epileptic seizures. The danger arises at the treatment level, where patient assumed to have epilepsy are treated empirically with medications that do not help their condition and might even make things worse. Therefore, Prof. LaFrance pushes for educating clinicians, patients, caregivers, and hospitals, to make sure non-epileptic seizures are included as a differential diagnosis and limit such misdiagnoses in the future. This interview took place at the American Academy of Neurology 2022 Congress in Seattle, WA.
Disclosures
Dr. LaFrance has served on the editorial boards of Epilepsia, Epilepsy & Behavior; Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, and Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences; receives editor’s royalties from the publication of Gates and Rowan’s Nonepileptic Seizures, 3rd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and 4th ed. (2018); author’s royalties for Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook and Therapist Guide (Oxford University Press, 2015); has received research support from the Department of Defense (DoD W81XWH-17-0169), NIH (NINDS 5K23NS45902 [PI]), Providence VAMC, Center for Neurorestoration and Neurorehabilitation, Rhode Island Hospital, the American Epilepsy Society (AES), the Epilepsy Foundation (EF), Brown University and the Siravo Foundation; serves on the Epilepsy Foundation New England Professional Advisory Board, the Board of the Functional Neurological Disorder Society, and on the Council of the American Neuropsychiatric Association; has received honoraria for the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting Annual Course; has served as a clinic development consultant at University of Colorado Denver, Cleveland Clinic, Spectrum Health, Emory University, and Oregon Health Sciences University; and has provided medico-legal expert testimony.
