Pediatric Epilepsy Pioneers and Educational Programs in Kuwait

Asma Al Tawari is a consultant pediatrician, neurologist, and epileptologist. She graduated from Cairo University, continued the postgraduate training, and earned a diploma in child health from Dublin. She then secured the membership and a fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. In the 1990s, she joined the pediatric neurology unit which provides services of in-patient and out-patient clinics as well as neurophysiological studies. This was initiated in the 1970s and covers the whole state of Kuwait. She underwent pediatric neurology training at The New Children Hospital, Sydney, Australia in 1998. In 2013, she received the certificate of the epilepsy and EEG fellowship from the King Faisal Specialty Hospital and Research Center, Saudi Commission for health specialties. She became the first epilepsy specialist and started running the first pediatric epilepsy service at the pediatric department AL Sabah Hospital. The modern digital technology was introduced for long-term video-EEG monitoring as part of presurgical evaluations for drug-resistant cases of epilepsy; however, surgical cases are boarded to a recognized epilepsy surgery center. The plan is to introduce the epilepsy surgery soon in Kuwait.

She is a member of the Kuwait Medical Association (KMA), International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), Asian Ocean Child Neurology Association (AOCNA), Kuwait League against Epilepsy (KLAE).

Milen Vladimir Pavlovic, MD, PhD, graduated from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He underwent training in pediatrics at the Institute for Mother and Child Health Care in Belgrade, Serbia. He gained further expertise in the fields of child neurology and epileptology at the Hospital for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents, University of Belgrade, during his clinical fellowship and academic research program under the mentorship of late professor Dr. Nebojša Jović.

He earned his academic PhD degree on the thesis: Probability of seizure recurrence after withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs in developmental age.

His entry into the world of pediatric epileptology started in the Pediatric Department of Krusevac Medical Center, Serbia, which then continued at the department of Pediatric Epileptology and Developmental Neurology, Institute for Health Care of Children and Adolescents, Novi Sad. Among regular clinical and academic activities, he participated in the clinical trial: Efficacy and safety of Eslicarbazepine Acetate (BIA 2-093) as an adjunctive therapy for refractory partial seizures in children, a double-blind randomized placebo controlled parallel group multicenter clinical trial (trial center 211).

Since 2011, he has been working in Kuwait, thus further expanding his professional experience in the broad field of child neurology. He is at present a member of the consultant team of pediatric neurologists at tertiary level, Al Sabah Hospital, Pediatric Neurology Unit, headed by Dr. Asma al Tawari. He is also involved in clinical and academic activities of the pediatric neurology ward of the pediatric department, EEG laboratory, consultations in other hospitals and outpatient services of general pediatric–neurology clinic and specialized clinics, cerebral palsy clinic, and ketogenic diet clinic. He was one of the contributors to the Pediatric Department Clinical Guidelines, Al Sabah Hospital, Kuwait, in 2014.

He is also the member of the ILAE, European Pediatric Neurology Society (EPNS), International Child Neurology Association (ICNA), Association of Clinical Neurophysiology of Serbia and Montenegro, Association of Child Neurologist of Serbia, KLAE, Kuwait Medical Association, and Serbian Medical Chamber.

His clinical research has been published and cited in several international peer-reviewed journals (1–8).

His main professional interests include: semiological and neurophysiological aspects of epileptic seizures, prognosis of epilepsy after drug withdrawal, and new treatment options in refractory childhood epilepsy.

• Suggested Reading

• 1 Al Tawari A, Ouvrier RA, Steinberg AW, Smith PG, Antony J. Vertebrobasilar Strokes in Children. Med Princ Pract 2000; 9: 186-193
• 2 Al Tawari A, Ramadan DG, Neubauer D, Heberle LC, Al Awadi F. An early onset form of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency: a report of a family from Kuwait. Brain Dev 2002; 24 (05) 304-309
• 3 Ismail EAR, Shabani IS, Badawi M. , et al. An epidemiologic, clinical, and therapeutic study of childhood Guillain-Barré syndrome in Kuwait: is it related to the oral polio vaccine?. J Child Neurol 1998; 13 (10) 488-492
• 4 Heberle LC, Ki Abdulla J, Al Tawari A, Al Othman N, Al Mazidi Z. Peroxisomal Disorders: Short review with four case reports. KMJ 2001; 33 (04) 348-352
• 5 Ramadan DG, Head RA, Al-Tawari A. , et al. Lactic acidosis and developmental delay due to deficiency of E3 binding protein (protein X) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. J Inherit Metab Dis 2004; 27 (04) 477-485
• 6 Al Tawari A, Al Torki N, Heberle LC. , et al. Newly described multiple congenital anomalies in methyelenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency in Arab child. In: The 9th International Child Neurology Congress; Beijing, China; September 20–25; 2002; Brain & Development 2000;24(6):563
• 7 Nanda A, Lionel J, Al-Tawari AA, Anim JT. What syndrome is this? Autosomal recessive type II cutis laxa. Pediatr Dermatol 2004; 21 (02) 166-169
• 8 Dixon-Salazar T, Silhavy JL, Marsh SE. , et al. Mutations in the AHI1 gene, encoding jouberin, cause Joubert syndrome with cortical polymicrogyria. Am J Hum Genet 2004; 75 (06) 979-987
• 9 Valente EM, Marsh SE, Castori M. , et al. Distinguishing the four genetic causes of Jouberts syndrome-related disorders. Ann Neurol 2005; 57 (04) 513-519
• 10 Haider MZ, Habeeb Y, Al-Nakkas E. , et al. Lack of an association between candidate gene loci and idiopathic generalized epilepsy in Kuwaiti Arab children. J Biomed Sci 2005; 12 (05) 815-818
• 11 Heberle LC, Al Tawari AA, Ramadan DG, Ibrahim JK. Ethylmalonic encephalopathy-report of two cases. Brain Dev 2006; 28 (05) 329-331
• 12 Ibrahim Abdulla JK, Vattoth S, Al Tawari AA, Pandey T, Abubacker S. Brain MRI features of merosin-negative congenital muscular dystrophy. Australas Radiol 2007; 51 (Suppl): B221-B223
• 13 Pavlović M, Neubauer D, Al Tawari A, Heberle LC. The microcephaly-capillary malformation syndrome in two brothers with novel clinical features. Pediatr Neurol 2014; 51 (04) 560-565
• 14 Pavlović MV, Jarebinski MS, Pekmezović TD, Marjanovic BD, Levic ZM. Febrile convulsions in a Serbian region: a 10-year epidemiological study. Eur J Neurol 1999; 6 (01) 39-42
• 15 Pavlović M, Jarebinski M, Pekmezović T, Levic Z. Seizure disorders in preschool children in a Serbian district. Neuroepidemiology 1998; 17 (02) 105-110
• 16 Pavlovic MV, Jarebinski MS, Pekmezovic TD, Janicijevic MA. Risk factors from brain tumors in children and adolescents: a case-control study in Belgrade, Serbia. Eur J Neurol 2005; 12 (07) 508-513
• 17 Pavlović M, Jović N, Pekmezović T. Antiepileptic drugs withdrawal in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Seizure 2011; 20 (07) 520-525
• 18 Pavlović M, Jović N, Pekmezović T. Withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs in young patients with cryptogenic focal epilepsies. Seizure 2012; 21 (06) 431-436
• 19 Pavlović M, Neubauer D, Al Tawari A, Heberle LC. The microcephaly-capillary malformation syndrome in two brothers with novel clinical features. Pediatr Neurol 2014; 51 (04) 560-565
• 20 Lamberink HJ, Otte WM, Geerts AT. , et al. Individualised prediction model of seizure recurrence and long-term outcomes after withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs in seizure-free patients: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. Lancet Neurol 2017; 16 (07) 523-531