Trevor Resnick, MD: Treating Epilepsy By Blending Technology, Genetics, and Pharmacologics

“The biggest change in pediatric epilepsy has been the evolution of genetic mutations. It’s really understanding the genetic mutations and types of epilepsy.”

Patients with epilepsy are often refractory to the available antiepileptic medications, making them an incredibly difficult population to treat. Adding in that a large number of these patients are pediatric patients only clouds the situation.

To try to solve this, a blend of technology, genetics, and medicine has begun to occur, with the future of treatment relying on a combination of the 3 to really improve outcomes for these patients. For Trevor Resnick, MD, the field’s gains in increasing the understanding of the genetic variations between types of epilepsies has primed the future for this combination approach.

To discuss this further, as well as to provide some insight into the clinical trials and studies in these areas that he’s been keeping an eye on and what they mean for the field, the pediatric epileptologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital spoke with NeurologyLive in an interview.