Some 'Novel' Surprises in Epilepsy Data

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Andrew N. Wilner, MD: Welcome to Medscape. I'm Dr Andrew Wilner. My guest is Dr Joseph Sirven. Welcome, Joe.

Joseph Sirven, MD: It's a pleasure to be here talking with you today.

Wilner: I'd like to begin by hearing your thoughts on what was new and interesting in the world of epilepsy at this year's annual meeting of American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

Sirven: I'm amazed that with all we've been through this year — COVID-19, a sense of racial injustice leading to concerns about social determinants of health, a reinvigoration of the interest in population health — that AAN 2021 still provided novel ways to be surprised. This virtual meeting definitely kept up with the high level of expectations raised by previous years.

I think the first thing that struck me was the number of projects — including one I was involved with — looking at issues going on upstream to the management of patients with epilepsy, rather than focusing on what's happening in the exam room. That kind of took me by surprise, and happily so, because it's good to see research in that area.

The second thing that stood out to me was seeing some results that have recently emerged from previous ongoing studies.