COVID-19, de novo seizures, and epilepsy

In this highly interactive session we will discuss several clinically relevant questions on the association of COVID-19 with epilepsy/seizures:

  • Is the risk of COVID-19 contraction increased in patients with epilepsy?
  • What is the incidence of de novo seizures in people with COVID-19? Clinical cases with variety of forms of de novo seizures in COVID-19 will be demonstrated.
  • Are acute symptomatic seizures frequent in patients with COVID-19 disease? The risk factors and diagnostic strategies will be discussed.
  • What is the impact of COVID-19 and pandemic on the occurrence of the non-epileptic (functional) seizures?
  • What is the frequency and etiology of seizures in post-COVID condition?
    Chair: Professor Alla Guekht MD, PhD
    Director of the Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry and Professor of Neurology at the Russian National Research Medical University.
    Her main research interests are focused on epilepsy after stroke and traumatic brain injury, somatic and psychiatric co-morbidities in epilepsy, social issues (epidemiology, QOL, stigma). She is Elected trustee of the World Federation of Neurology, Treasurer of the International League against epilepsy, co-chair of the “Follow-up and long term impact working group meeting COVID-19 NeuroForum”. She has been involved in many WHO projects in epilepsy and brain health.
    Speaker: Dr Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, M.D.
    Professor of Epileptology, Director, Shiraz Epilepsy Center and Epilepsy Surgery Program, Department of Neurology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Adjunct Research Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.