Epileptic disorders : international epilepsy journal with videotape
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The COVID-19 pandemic shook European healthcare systems, with unavoidable gaps in the management of patients with chronic diseases. We describe the impact of the pandemic on epilepsy care in three tertiary epilepsy centres from Spain and Italy, the most affected European countries. The three epilepsy centres, members of the European EpiCARE network, manage more than 5,700 people with epilepsy. ⋯ None of the 2,122 patients admitted to COVID units experienced seizures among the early symptoms. Epilepsy care was negatively impacted by the pandemic, irrespective of COVID-19 epidemiology or conversion of the hospital into a COVID-19 centre. The pandemic did not silence the needs of people with epilepsy, and this must be considered in the planning of the second phase.