title: The Natural History of Epilepsy in 163 Untreated Patients: Looking for "Oligoepilepsy".
abstract: The clinical evolution of untreated epilepsy has been rarely studied in developed countries, and the existence of a distinct syndrome characterized by rarely repeated seizures (oligoepilepsy) is debated. The aim of this study is to assess the natural history of 163 untreated patients with epilepsy in order to evaluate whether oligoepilepsy retains specific features. We retrospectively evaluated 7344 patients with ≥2 unprovoked seizures.
  
  
  METHODS
  sufficient anamnestic/EEG data, disease duration ≥10 years, follow-up ≥3 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  psychogenic seizures, natural history of disease <5 years. The 163 included subjects were divided into 2 groups according to seizure frequency: oligoepilepsy (≤1/year; 47 subjects) and controls (>1/year; 116 subjects). We also evaluated seizure frequency during the natural history. There were no differences between groups regarding duration of natural history, family history of epilepsy/febrile seizures, interictal EEG. Subjects with oligoepilepsy differed from controls in terms of sex (females 38% vs. 58%, p = 0.03) and drug resistance (6% vs 28%; p = 0.003). Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy was more frequent in controls (9.5% vs 0%, p = 0.04). Patients with oligoepilepsy, differently from controls, had stable seizure frequency. Oligoepilepsy represents a favourable evolution of different epileptic syndromes and keeps a stable seizure frequency over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.|Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.|Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferlazzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.|Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia Grazia
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.affiliation: Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Vittoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cianci
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mumoli
authors.affiliation: Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sueri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Labate
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gambardella
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy.|Regional Epilepsy Center, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Via Melacrino, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aguglia