title: Partial epilepsy with seizures appearing in the first three years of life.
abstract: We reviewed records of 5,000 epileptic patients and identified 154 cases of partial epilepsy with seizure onset in the first 3 years of life. Of these, 35 patients had initial partial seizures. In 57 patients, partial seizures were preceded by a hemiclonic seizure, which manifested as status epilepticus in 70%. Generalized seizures were the initial manifestation in 62 patients: 17 grand mal, 14 clonic or myoclonic, and 31 tonic or atonic seizures. Of the 119 patients, 31 showed a seizure free-interval of several years between the initial seizure and the occurrence of partial epilepsy. The atypical initial clinical presentation and the seizure-free interval before occurrence of more characteristic partial seizures raise the possibility that the diagnosis of partial epilepsies in the first years of life may be missed.
authors.affiliation: Antiepileptic Center PENEPA, Hospital General de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oller-Daurella
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Oller
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004831:Epilepsies, Myoclonic / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn