title: [Relation of familial epilepsy predisposition in the etiology of secondary generalized epilepsies in childhood].
abstract: Taking into account the familial predisposition with regard to cerebral convulsions and the electroencephalographic and cranial computer-tomographic findings in 307 children and adolescents with epilepsy, the role of genetic factors in the etiology of secondary generalized epilepsy was investigated in the present study. The patients with primary generalized epilepsy displayed a positive family history with regard to cerebral convulsions more frequently than those with secondary generalized and partial epilepsy. However, this difference cannot be statistically verified. One quarter of the 27 patients with secondary generalized epilepsy which display familial predisposition to epilepsy in the history were children with West- and Lennox-Gastaut-Syndrome. It was remarkable that there was no significant difference between the patients with normal and pathological CCT findings with regard to the incidence of familial predisposition. This applied in the same way even in a comparison within the subpopulations of the different epilepsy forms. These results underscore the significance of genetic predisposition not only in manifestation of primary generalized epilepsy, but also with regard to epilepsy forms with demonstrable morphological organic lesions in the brain. They thus support the opinion held hitherto that the manifestation of epileptic attacks results from the interaction of endogenous genetic factors and exogenous damage mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Neuropädiatrie Medizinischen Universität zu Lübeck.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aksu
mesh_terms: D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000235:genetics*; D004832:Epilepsy, Absence / Q000235:genetics; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000235:genetics; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000235:genetics; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
vernacular_title: Zur Frage der Beziehung der familiären Epilepsiebelastung in der Atiologie der sekundär generalisierten Epilepsien im Kindesalter.