POSTERIOR CORTEX SEIZURES 
– PEDIATRIC CHALLENGES

Posterior cortex seizures have a complex semiologic presentation that is especially challenging in the pediatric population. Therefore, using clinical presentation in localizing ictal involvement is not sufficient in children, thus making this type of epilepsy quite under-recognized. As most of the ictal symptoms are subjective and could well be overshadowed by symptoms arising from adjacent cortices, primarily temporal and central ones, it is necessary not to overlook this large source of pharmacoresistant epilepsies. The parietal lobe as part of an extensive synaptic network is a great imitator, thus quite often producing inaccurate localization readings on scalp electroencephalography (EEG) due to very scattered interictal discharges and uninformative ictal recordings. Using direct cortical recordings in delineating the epileptogenic zone is helpful in some cases but even highly experienced epileptologists may erroneously interpret some features as arising from other localizations, especially the frontal lobe. Epilepsy surgery from the posterior quadrant is still quite rare and relatively unsuccessful, especially in non-lesional epilepsies due to elaborate mechanisms of connectivity, misleading semiology, and non-localizing EEG recordings, possibly due to insufficiency of parietal cortex synchronicity. Applying the aforementioned to the pediatric age makes it perhaps the most difficult challenge for a pediatric epileptologist.