title: The epidemiology of epilepsy in children: a report from a Turkish pediatric neurology clinic.
abstract: This retrospective cohort study aims to assess the distribution of seizure types and epileptic syndromes in children with epilepsy who were followed up in a tertiary outpatient pediatric neurology clinic between January 2004 and December 2009. The findings of 533 children aged between 2 months and 16 years were evaluated. The International League Against Epilepsy criteria (of 1981 and 1989) were used for diagnosis and classification. The rate of partial seizures (56.5%) was higher than that of generalized seizures (43.5%). Partial seizures were more common during late childhood (P < .001). Localization-related epilepsies (53.3%) were more frequent than generalized epilepsies (37.1%). Generalized epilepsies were more frequent during the first year of life, whereas localization-related epilepsies were more common at later ages (P < .001). The majority had a symptomatic etiology (47.1%). The increased frequency of symptomatic etiologies attributed to perinatal insults suggests that intractable epilepsies during childhood represent an important health issue for developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey olcaymd@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Olcay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ünver
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sabiha Paktuna
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Keskin
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serap
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Private Göztepe Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Afşin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ünver
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012640:Seizures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: classification; epilepsy; epileptic seizures; epileptic syndromes