Department of Pediatrics, Alexandria University, Egypt. ABSTRACT ... as having seizure free period of at least two ..... Nelson textbook of pediatrics. 20th ed.
Original Article
Risk Factors for Intractable Epilepsy in Children Mona Khalil Department of Pediatrics, Alexandria University, Egypt
ABSTRACT Background: Intractable epilepsy is a major problem met during treatment of epilepsy in children. Several factors have been associated with intractable epilepsy which can be detected early at the time of diagnosis or shortly thereafter. Aim: To determine the possible risk factors associated with intractable epilepsy in children. Subjects: A retrospective case control study was conducted on 50 children with intractable epilepsy and another 50 with well controlled epilepsy attending the neurology outpatient clinic at Alexandria University Children's Hospital. Methods: Several possible predictive factors for intractable epilepsy were evaluated including age at onset of seizures, seizure frequency and type at onset, etiology, previous history of status epilepticus, febrile and neonatal seizures, mental and motor developmental delay, behavioral abnormalities, first electroencephalogram (EEG) findings and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings. Results: Comparison between both groups revealed that early onset of seizures before the age of 1 year, daily seizures at onset, associated motor, mental and behavior abnormalities, history of status epilepticus, symptomatic etiology and abnormal neuroimaging were significant risk factors for the development of intractable epilepsy (P
