Characteristics of a large population of patients with refractory epilepsy attending tertiary referral centers in Italy.
The characteristics of 1,124 consecutive adults and children with refractory epilepsy attending 11 tertiary referral centers in Italy were investigated at enrollment into a prospective observational study. Among 933 adults (age 16-86 years), the most common syndromes were symptomatic (43.7%) and cryptogenic (39.0%) focal epilepsies, followed by idiopathic (8.1%) and cryptogenic/symptomatic generalized (6.2%) epilepsies. The most common syndrome among 191 children was symptomatic focal epilepsy (35.1%), followed by cryptogenic focal (18.8%), cryptogenic/symptomatic generalized (18.3%), undetermined whether focal or generalized (16.8%), and idiopathic generalized (7.3%). Primarily and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures were reported in 27.8% of adults and 16.8% of children. The most commonly reported etiologies were mesial temporal sclerosis (8.0%) and disorders of cortical development (6.2%) in adults, and disorders of cortical development (14.7%) and nonprogressive encephalopathies (6.8%) in children. More than three-fourths of subjects in both age groups were on antiepileptic drug (AED) polytherapy.
Institute of Neurology IRCCS C. Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Veriano
V
Alexandre
Giuseppe
G
Capovilla
Cinzia
C
Fattore
Valentina
V
Franco
Antonio
A
Gambardella
Renzo
R
Guerrini
Francesca
F
La Briola
Marianna
M
Ladogana
Eleonora
E
Rosati
Luigi Maria
LM
Specchio
Salvatore
S
Striano
Emilio
E
Perucca
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003151:Community Health Centers; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013577:Syndrome; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000927:Anticonvulsants