Publication: Epilepsy in children: an epidemiological study at Kathmandu
Date
2003
Authors
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Publisher
Kathmandu University
Abstract
Objectives: To analyze the relative frequencies of various epileptic seizures and to study the age at onset ofdifferent seizure types in Nepalese children. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Hospital outpatient based inKathmandu, Nepal, between November 2001 to October 2002. Participants: 50 children diagnosed as epilepsyexcluding neonatal and febrile seizures. Main outcome measure: Diagnosis and classification of casesaccording to the International Classification of Epilepsy of the International League Against Epilepsy [ILAE]and number of patients in each category with various ages at first seizure. Result: Generalized seizures (78%)were 3.54 times commoner than partial seizures (22%). Most frequent seizure types were generalized tonicclonic (36%), tonic (16%), complex partial (14%), atonic (12%) and absence (10%). Generalized clonic, simplepartial and partial with secondary generalization, each had less than 5% frequencies. In 40% cases the firstseizure occurred when aged between 2-5 years. In partial seizures the peak age at onset was observed below 6years while primary generalized seizure was more frequently seen in age group 2-10 years. Conclusion: Morepaediatric patients with primary generalized seizures (78%) were observed than with partial seizures (22%). Inthis age group, the most frequent seizure type was generalized tonic clonic (36%) with the peak frequency ofage at onset of seizures in 2-5 years.Key words: Epilepsy, Frequency, Age at onset.