[A descriptive study of childhood epilepsy].

AIM: To analyse the epidemiological characteristics and the relative distribution of the different types of epilepsy and epileptic syndromes in the childhood population.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

We reviewed the medical histories of 365 patients (192 males and 173 females) with epilepsy. Epidemiological and clinical data were collected, together with information from complementary examinations. The diagnostic criteria applied were those of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

RESULTS

The mean age at diagnosis was 5.9 years and the mean follow-up time was 4.6 years. A personal and/or familial history of febrile convulsions was reported in 13.4% of cases and 23.5% had a history of epilepsy in the family. The aetiology was idiopathic in 166 cases (45.5%), cryptogenic in 106 (29%) and symptomatic in 93 (25.5%). Of the total number of patients, 52.9% reported having focal epilepsies, they were generalised in 43.6% and 3.5% had epilepsies with an undetermined localisation. In each age group the most common epileptic syndromes were: in infants, West's syndrome (34.1%) and symptomatic focal epilepsies (24.4%); in preschoolers, idiopathic focal (21.3%) or cryptogenic (17.7%) and myoclonic-astatic epilepsies (12.8%); in school-age children, idiopathic focal epilepsies (27.3%) and absences (24.5%); and in teenagers, cryptogenic (26.6%) and idiopathic focal epilepsies (23.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

The initial distinction between epileptic syndromes is usually difficult to establish and developmental monitoring is essential for reaching a definitive diagnosis and a classification of their syndromes. Age appears to be a determining factor in the clinical expression of the different types of childhood epilepsy, and the relative distribution of the epileptic syndromes is different in each age group.