Epilepsy and seizure occurrence in a population-based sample of Virginian twins and their families.
Epilepsy and seizure occurrence was assessed in a large, population-based sample of Virginian twins and their families. Medical history information on twins and their relatives was collected by questionnaire and used to estimate prevalence of seizures and epilepsy for this sample. Health history information was available on 16,634 twins and their families. Lifetime prevalence of a history of seizures ranged from < 1 to 5%. Concordance rates were larger in monozygotic (MZ) than dizygotic (DZ) pairs overall, however, significant differences between the zygosities were only noted for Caucasian twins. To facilitate interpretation of results, the sample was partitioned into two age groups: 16-35 years and > 35 years of age. In the first age category of twins, significant differences were observed for the following seizure types; epilepsy (0.30 and 0.13, p <0.03), febrile seizures (0.39 and 0.12, p <0.001), and other convulsions/seizures (0.28 and 0.01, p < 0.001). While for twins in the second age category, only the comparison for febrile seizures (0.42 and 0.14, p < 0.001) resulted in a significant difference between zygosities. A family history of seizures was reported in 215 (35.1%) of the 613 seizure positive probands. Increased risk of seizures (1.88-4.64) among relatives of affected versus unaffected individuals was also observed.
Miller
L L
LL
Department of Human Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University-Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond 23298-0003, USA.
Pellock
J M
JM
Boggs
J G
JG
DeLorenzo
R J
RJ
Meyer
J M
JM
Corey
L A
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012640:Seizures / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics; D001741:Black or African American