Skip to main content
Menu

American Epilepsy Society Clinical Practice Guideline: Infantile Epilepsy

American Epilepsy Society (AES) practice guideline

This American Epilepsy Society (AES) practice guideline provides updated, evidence-based recommendations for the management of epilepsy in infants and children aged 1 month to <36 months. Developed by a multidisciplinary expert panel, the guideline updates a prior systematic review conducted by ECRI on behalf of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, incorporating new evidence published between August 2021 and September 2025.

The guideline evaluates pharmacologic, dietary and surgical treatment options, using GRADE methodology to assess certainty of evidence. While many recommendations are conditional due to limited high-quality data in this age group, the panel issued two strong surgical recommendations for appropriately selected patients with drug-resistant epilepsy:

  • Hemispherectomy or hemispherotomy for children with specific unilateral lesional etiologies (e.g., hemimegaloencephaly, Rasmussen’s encephalitis, Sturge-Weber syndrome, perinatal stroke, hemispheric cortical dysplasia)
  • Focal, multilobar or posterior disconnection surgeries for drug-resistant focal or lesional epilepsy

Notably, West syndrome and infantile spasms were excluded, given existing disorder-specific guidelines. A treatment algorithm accompanies the recommendations to help clinicians contextualize medical, dietary and surgical options in real-world practice.

The authors emphasize the critical need for higher-quality, etiology-specific data, particularly on long-term developmental outcomes and mortality in this vulnerable population.

Kevin E. Chapman, MD, et al., a neurologist at Phoenix Children’s, is a co-author of this guideline, reflecting Phoenix Children’s commitment to advancing evidence-based pediatric epilepsy care and shaping clinical standards for infants and young children. Read the Guideline

Phoenix Children's Epilepsy Program — Arizona's only Level 4 designated pediatric epilepsy center — accepts referrals for infants and children with new-onset or drug-resistant epilepsy. To refer a patient or request a consultation, call 602-933-KIDS (5437) or submit a referral online.

REFERENCE

Freedman D, et al. American Epilepsy Society Clinical Practice Guideline: Infantile Epilepsy. Epilepsy Curr. 2026. doi:10.1177/15357597261433266. PMC13061853.

 

Phoenix Children’s
602-933-1000
1919 E. Thomas Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85016

Any use of this site or the materials contained on this site constitutes your agreement to our Policies, Terms and Conditions.

The views, opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the authors. Reference to any specific commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Phoenix Children’s.