eHealth as a Facilitator of Precision Medicine in Epilepsy

Gianpiero L Cavalleri; Slave Petrovski; Mary Fitzsimons; Norman Delanty

doi:10.1159/000481793

eHealth as a Facilitator of Precision Medicine in Epilepsy

Biomed Hub. 2017 Nov 21;2(Suppl 1):137-145. doi: 10.1159/000481793. eCollection 2017 Nov-Dec.

Authors

Gianpiero L Cavalleri^{1

2}, Slave Petrovski³, Mary Fitzsimons^{1

4

2}, Norman Delanty^{1

4

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
² The FutureNeuro Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland.
³ Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Austin Health and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition that affects approximately 50 million people worldwide. Current treatments are inadequate and around a third of patients continue to experience uncontrolled seizures. The genetic architecture of many of the epilepsies makes them amenable to next-generation sequencing technologies, enabling a molecular diagnosis in an increasing proportion of patients. As a result, rare but remarkable examples of precision therapeutics in epilepsy are emerging. Coordinated research efforts are required to increase the diagnostic yield of sequencing and translate diagnosis to improved prognosis. This review explores the potential of eHealth technologies in facilitating and accelerating precision therapeutics in epilepsy. We describe the state of the art in precision diagnostics and therapeutics in epilepsy and identify opportunities for eHealth to accelerate the realisation of precision therapeutics via patient registries, research-enabled electronic health records, and connected health solutions.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Precision therapeutics; eHealth.

Publication types

Review