Making a difference together - First UCB Pan-European Meeting on Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs)

At UCB, we believe that providing opportunities for collaboration, discussion, and knowledge exchange for healthcare professionals can help make a real difference in improving the care and treatment of people living with serious neurological conditions, such as epilepsy. For this reason, we recently launched a new European meeting series for healthcare professionals, entitled: "Make the difference together".  

The first two-day meeting in this series took place in March, with more than 35 Neurologists and Neuropaediatricians from across Europe in attendance. The topic of discussion was Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs) – a key area of focus for UCB.  

On the first day, delegates highlighted the importance of a patient-centered approach to the management of DEEs, in addition to advances in research and their impact on clinical practice. Following this, clinical case studies of people living with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome were discussed in small groups; the various cases showing just how complex these diseases are. The intensive and practical exchange among the participants resulted in many hands-on considerations on how to improve care.

The second day of the meeting began with a discussion about the opportunities and challenges of transitioning patients from pediatric to adult care. Discussion then turned to the topic of optimizing the management of DEEs. Emphasis was placed on the importance of individual action plans and prioritizing families, who often take on a large share of home care. The event concluded with a group discussion of complex clinical case studies of people living with Dravet syndrome. The results of these constructive and practice-oriented group discussions were then compiled and discussed again in the plenary session.  

Our first pan-European meeting "Make the difference together" confirmed once again that these deep discussions are extremely valuable in helping improve patient care, and the positivity of the meeting was reflected in the voices of the participants.  

We would like to thank all the participating experts for their contributions, which greatly enriched the event, and we thank them for their commitment to people living with epilepsy.

The next event will take place in June (21-22), in Prague. Do please get in touch if you want further information.