Recent research has shed much new light on the genetic mechanisms of adult-onset epilepsy, according to a leading expert. “Genetics are potentially relevant to every adult epilepsy patient without a known acquired cause,” said Dr Colin Ellis of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, who highlighted some of the most promising research in the field at AES 2018.
While there have been many breakthroughs in the genetics of pediatric epilepsy, only a small minority of adult-onset cases are linked to genetic causes.