title: Seizure remission in adults with long-standing intractable epilepsy: an extended follow-up.
abstract: Recent studies have provided much needed data on the probability of seizure remission among adults with chronic intractable epilepsy treated medically. Here we provide an extended follow-up to our earlier study in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of long-term prognosis in this patient population during medical treatment. The prevalence cohort was followed for two outcomes-complete seizure remission for ≥ 12 months and subsequent seizure relapse among those attaining a seizure remission. The study outcomes were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. We found that the probability of attaining a ≥ 12 months of complete seizure freedom to be approximately 3-4% per year through 8 years of follow-up. By year 5 since the start of seizure remission, the cumulative probability of seizure relapse was 81%, although only half of the patients with seizure relapse went on to experience their previous seizure frequency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States. hc323@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Hyunmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Gary A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Heiman
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Munger Clary
authors.forename: Mill
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Etienne
authors.forename: Stanley R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Resor
authors.forename: W Allen
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Hauser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004351:Drug Resistance; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012008:Recurrence; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012640:Seizures / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants