ArticleBMC neurology2013
Clinical course and seizure outcome of idiopathic childhood epilepsy: determinants of early and long-term prognosis.
Article in BMC neurology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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16 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploratory bidirectional Mendelian randomisation analysis of cerebrospinal fluid metabolites associated with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Epilepsy Treatment Outcome and Associated Factors in Children and Adolescents in a Resource-limited Setting: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Clinical medicine insights. Pediatrics · 2026Article
- Etiologies of patients with adult-onset epilepsy over the past 25 years: a retrospective study in China.BMC neurology · 2025Article
- Global, regional and national burden of epilepsy in adolescents aged 10-19 years from 1990 to 2021: An analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Epilepsia open · 2025Article
- Global, regional, and national children and adolescent epilepsy burden, 1990-2021: an analysis based on the global burden of disease study 2021.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Childhood Idiopathic Epilepsy in Saudi Arabia From 1990-2019: Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Data, 2019.Cureus · 2024Article
- Aberrant functional connectivity associated with drug response in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Article
- Long-term phenobarbital treatment is effective in working-age patients with epilepsy in rural Northeast China: a 10-year follow-up study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Excessively increased thalamocortical connectivity and poor initial antiseizure medication response in epilepsy patients.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Overexpression of BDNF in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray regulates the behavior of epilepsy-migraine comorbid rats.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Risk Factors for Drug Resistance in Epileptic Children with Age of Onset above Five Years: A Case-Control Study.Behavioural neurology · 2021Article
- Course and Outcome of Children with Convulsive Status Epilepticus Admitted to a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.Cureus · 2019Article
- Relationship between right-to-left shunt and migraine in patients with epilepsy: a single-centre, cross-sectional study in China.BMJ open · 2018Article
- The Epidemiological Characteristics of Epilepsy in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- mTOR inhibitors in the pharmacologic management of tuberous sclerosis complex and their potential role in other rare neurodevelopmental disorders.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2017Review
- Management of Epilepsies at the Community Cottage Hospital Level in a Developing Environment.Nigerian medical journal : journal of the Nigeria Medical AssociationArticle
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIdiopathic epilepsies and epileptic syndromes predominate childhood and adolescence epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical course and outcome of idiopathic childhood epilepsy and identify variables determining both early and long-term prognosis.
methodsWe followed 303 children with newly diagnosed idiopathic epilepsy aged 1-14 years old, both prospectively and retrospectively. Outcome was defined at one, 2 and 4 years of follow-up, as well as at the end of the study period for all patients. Based on the data collected, patients were classified in four patterns of clinical course: "excellent", "improving", "relapsing" and "poor". Variables defined at intake and after the initial year of treatment were analyzed for their prognostic relevance towards the clinical course and outcome of the patients.
resultsThe mean age at seizure onset was 6.7 years and the mean duration of follow-up was 8.3 years (range 2,0-22,0,SD 4,24). During the initial year of treatment, 70,3% of patients were seizure-free. The course of epilepsy was "excellent" in 53,1% of the subjects, "improving" in 22,8%, "relapsing" in 22,1% whereas only 6 children with idiopathic epilepsy (2%) had a "poor" clinical course exhibiting drug-resistance. After multivariate analysis, variables predictive of a poor initial response to therapy were early seizure onset, multiple seizure types and history of status epilepticus. At the end of follow-up, early response to treatment was of significant positive predictive value, while the presence of multiple seizure types and the history of migraine had a negative impact on prognosis.
conclusionsIn the vast majority of children, the long-term prognosis of idiopathic epilepsy is favorable. More than half of the patients attain seizure freedom immediately and their clinical course is considered "excellent". About one fifth exhibit either an improving or a fluctuating course. Early seizure onset, multiple seizure types and status epilepticus are predictive of an initial poor response to treatment in children with idiopathic epilepsy. Initial non-response to treatment, multiple seizure types and history of migraine are determinants of a less favorable final outcome after long-term follow-up.
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