It was an honour to present data from our Scottish Early Childhood Epilepsy Cohort at #BPNA2021 this morning. @BPNA_org. Here's a summary...

Propecttively recruiting from 24 sites over 3 years, representing all places where children with epilepsy are seen in Scotland, we identified 390 children diagnosed with epilepsy before their 3rd birthday (May 2014-May 2017).

This makes the incidence of epilepsy < 3 years of age 1 per 400 live births.

Aetiology can be identified in 54% of cases, with a genetic cause explaining 34%.

One third (146/390) were classified as having the most severe form of epilepsy, Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy (DEE, pink/purple shades).

Using the @scotgov Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, #SIMD, we found a linear relationship between socio-economic status and incidence of epilepsy. The most disadvantaged quintile had a significantly higher incidence of epilepsy (Odds ratio 1.3; p = 0.004).

And here’s a nice picture I took of the sunset from the snow-capped hills behind my house yesterday evening, illustrating one of the advantages of online conferences .

Thanks @sameermzuberi for his visionary work in establishing this project, to the many people who contributed, including @RealJayShetty, and to @EpilepsyRUK, @DravetUK, @GCH_Charity for generously supporting this important research.