The future of FS, FSE, and their epileptogenic and cognitive outcomes

As discussed throughout this volume, febrile seizures (FS) remain the most common seizures in infants and children worldwide. This fact has provided the impetus to study them and their consequences and consider their treatment, the focus of the first edition of this book (Baram and Shinnar, 2002 [1]). The 20years since the publication of this first edition have witnessed an explosion of new information about FS, meriting this new edition. Key advances have occurred in the genetics and neurobiological underpinnings of FS and febrile status epilepticus (FSE), the role of neuroinflammatory factors in the emergence of FS and their consequences, the demonstration of unique clinical and neuroradiological aspects of FSE, and the prospect of predictive (bio)markers to identify and characterize cognitive and pro-epileptogenic outcomes. Here, we review some of these developments and speculate about the next 20years of the field.