In search of epilepsy biomarkers in the immature brain: goals, challenges and strategies.

Epilepsy and seizures are very common in the early years of life and are often associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Identification of biomarkers for the early detection of epileptogenicity, epileptogenesis, comorbidities, disease progression and treatment implementation will be very important in implementing more effective therapies. This article summarizes the current needs in the search for new early life epilepsy-related biomarkers and discusses the candidate biomarkers that are under investigation, as well as the challenges associated with the identification and validation of these biomarkers.