• Marina Trivisano, Nicola Specchio, Nicola Pietrafusa, Costanza Calabrese, Alessandro Ferretti, Riccardo Ricci, Tommaso Renzetti, Massimiliano Raponi, and Federico Vigevano.
• Rare and Complex Epilepsy Unit, Department of Neurological Sciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Full Member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Rome, Italy.
• Epilepsy Behav. 2020 Dec 1; 113: 107527.

AbstractThe recent COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted care systems around the world. We assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected children with epilepsy in Italy, where lockdown measures were applied from March 8 to May 4, 2020. We compiled an Italian-language online survey on changes to healthcare and views on telehealth. Invitations were sent to 6631 contacts of all patients diagnosed with epilepsy within the last 5 years at the BambinoGesù Children's Hospital in Rome. Of the 3321 responses received, 55.6% of patients were seizure-free for at least 1 year before the COVID-19-related lockdown, 74.4% used anti-seizure medications (ASMs), and 59.7% had intellectual disability. Only 10 patients (0.4%) became infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Seizure frequency remained stable for most patients during the lockdown period (increased in 13.2%; decreased in 20.3%), and seizure duration, use of rescue medications, and adherence to treatment were unchanged. Comorbidities were more affected (behavioral problems worsened in 35.8%; sleep disorder worsened in 17.0%). Visits were canceled/postponed for 41.0%, but 25.1% had remote consultation during the lockdown period (93.9% were satisfied). Most responders (67.2%) considered continued remote consultations advantageous. Our responses support that patients/caregivers are willing to embrace telemedicine for some scenarios.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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