NeurologyLive® Year in Review 2022: Most-Watched Epilepsy Expert Interviews

In 2022, the NeurologyLive^® team spoke with hundreds of people and posted hundreds of hours of interview clips. The staff spoke with neurologists, investigators, advanced practice providers, physical therapists, advocates, patients, pharmacists, and industry experts—anyone involved in the process of delivering clinical care.

These conversations were had with individuals from all over the world, both virtually and in person. The team attended more than 10 annual meetings of medical societies, each and every time sitting down with experts on-site to learn more about the conversations driving care and the challenges being overcome.

From those in the field of epilepsy and seizure disorders this year, we learned about the various approaches being taken to epilepsy treatment and the new bar that has been set by novel antiseizure medications. Additionally, the themes of these conversations included the challenges of access to therapies, the implications of sleep's relationship with epilepsy, and the importance of comprehensive care, among others.

Here, we'll highlight the most-viewed expert interviews on NeurologyLive^® this year. Click the buttons to watch more of our conversations with these experts.

1. Tailoring Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to PNES, Seizure-Related Disorders: Becky Tilahun, PhD

The clinical psychologist at Cleveland Clinic discussed the process for successfully changing and tailoring different cognitive behavioral therapy approaches to treat various forms of seizures. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"There’s a scarcity of providers for functional neurological disorders. We’re going to try different approaches and conduct more research to make these interventions more approachable and accessible for patients.”

2. The New Bar Set for Therapies in Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy: Jacqueline A. French, MD

The codirector of Epilepsy Clinical Trials at NYU Langone spoke to the progress that’s been made in treating refractory epilepsy and her hopes for the future of drug development in this area of medicine. WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“We now have sort of set a new bar, and it’s going to be very hard for any other drug to be developed in the field that doesn’t really have a substantial improvement in seizures that’s demonstrable. We’re not going to go back to this can show a 40% median reduction compared to 20% in the placebo group.”

3. Jacksonian Epilepsy and the Jacksonian March: R. Edward Hogan, MD

The professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, and the president of the American Epilepsy Society, shared his perspective on John Hughlings Jackson’s observations of epilepsy in the brain and how it can inform modern practice. WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“[John Hughlings Jackson’s] real contribution was to say these movements mean there must be an organized part of the brain [from which] these movements are generated. Subsequently, what that really gave the basis for is that, now, we have a whole area of the brain that we call the homunculus where it maps out where the primary and sensory motor cortex are.”

4. More Awareness Needed for Sleep Health and Pediatric Epilepsy: Renee Shellhaas, MD, MS, FAES

The professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis spoke about sleep-wake patterns in epilepsy based on a special lecture from the 2022 American Epilepsy Society annual meeting. WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“Sleep is a very important issue for parents and for children with epilepsy. Yet, we have very few data to really guide our practice. We know that most often, nobody asks a parent about their child's sleep, and even when there are pretty significant sleep disorders, a lot of times kids aren't evaluated.”

5. The Future of Clinical Care with New Antiseizure Medication: Christopher Elder, MD

An overview of the shifting landscape of antiseizure medication and various neurostimulation devices is shared by the clinical assistant professor of neurology in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone Health. WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

“I suspect, in the future, patients with focal epilepsy who would be considered for epilepsy surgery basically won't be considered candidates unless they had tried [cenobamate] and that medication had failed them. I would not be surprised, in the future, if before patients can be evaluated for post surgery, that they will be required to be on that medication.”

6. Capabilities and Limitations of Seizure Apps: Jessica Fesler, MD, MEd

The staff epileptologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Epilepsy Center detailed the benefits seizure apps provide for patients with epilepsy, as well as the barriers that limit them. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"Seizure apps are not used widespread by a lot of people. One of the reviews out there that looked at the most commonly used apps in 2018 showed that they were downloaded by about 10,000 people, which sounds like a lot, but not when you think about the 50 million people with epilepsy."

7. Expensive Antiseizure Medications Cause for Concern for Patients with Epilepsy: Deepti Zutshi, MD, FAAN

The associate professor of neurology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, spoke about expensive antiseizure medications for epilepsy along with spending for Medicare and Medicaid at the 2022 AES Annual Meeting. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

“It's a very difficult choice between making sure that pharmaceutical companies receive enough money that they get actually paid for all the drug development, which costs billions of dollars, but also making sure that public funding for these medications is sustainable over the long-term future.”

8. Clinician and Patient Collaboration Advances Research and Epilepsy Care: Colin Josephson, MD, MSc, FRCPC

The associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary spoke about advancing epilepsy care through patient-oriented research at the 2022 American Epilepsy Society annual meeting. WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

“I'm thanking the patients that dedicate their time, their efforts to help us understand their situation more, because the only way we're ever going to move this field forward is collaboratively.”

9. Preventing TSC By Treating at the Earliest Stage: Darcy Krueger, MD, PhD

The director of the Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s discussed the thought behind STOPS2, a trial aimed at preventing or delaying seizure onset in tuberous sclerosis complex. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"The fundamental difference for TSC Steps is that now we’re saying we’re not treating a symptom of tuberous sclerosis; we’re treating your tuberous sclerosis itself. We’re trying to treat it as soon as we know you have that diagnosis, but of course, we have to do that in a trial setting so that we can get the answers and have the trust that the results mean what we think they do.”

10. Interdisciplinary Care Teams in Epilepsy Care: Lucretia Long, APRN-CNP

The associate clinical professor of neurology at OSU Wexner Medical Center discussed the state of interdisciplinary care for individuals with epilepsy, and how these care teams operate. WATCH TIME: 2 minutes

“It has a dramatic improvement in overall outcomes for patients and families with epilepsy, and I think we can look at minimizing ER visits, and quality parameters like patient satisfaction. Patients with epilepsy have a lot of challenges with transportation, so if you can incorporate a single visit with that multidisciplinary team, where everyone is there providing appropriate and comprehensive care, you can [provide] a more efficient process and also minimize traveling expenses.”