EPILEPSY AND EPILEPTIC SYNDROMES DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE

Aim. To analyse the epidemiological characteristics and the relative distribution of the different types of epilepsy and epileptic syndromes during the first year of life. Patients and methods. An analysis was performed of the patient records of all patients with epilepsy diagnosed during their first year of life who were submitted to a developmental check-up in the year' 2007. The sample consisted of 60 patients (27 boys and 33 girls). Epidemiological and clinical data were collected, together with the findings from complementary examinations. The diagnostic criteria applied were those of the International League Against Epilepsy Results. The meat? age at the time of diagnosis was 6.3 months. The mean follow-up time was 7.6 years. The aetiology was symptomatic in 40 cases (66.7%), cryptogenic in 16 (26.7%) and idiopathic in four cases (6.7%). Neuroimaging tests detected abnormalities in 34 patients (56 7%). West's syndrome (30%), symptomatic focal epilepsies (23.3%) and epilepsies linked to specific syndromes (16.7%) were the epileptic syndromes with the highest prevalence. Learning disabilities were observed in 82.5% of the children. Conclusions. Most epilepsies that present during the first year of life are symptomatic and/or cryptogenic, and are accompanied by psychoneurological impairment and/or resistance to therapy, which condition cognitive disorders that are eligible for specialised psycho-pedagogical intervention. [REV NEUROL 2009; 48: 281-4]