title: Seizure Recurrence in Children after Stopping Antiepileptic Medication: 5-Year Follow-Up.
abstract: We wanted to identify in children with epilepsy the factors associated with seizure control and recurrence after a 2-year remission.
  
  
  
  We did a 5-year follow-up of epileptic children whose antiepileptic medication had been stopped. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare features of electroencephalograms (EEGs) and clinical findings. In this study, 43 patients with and 64 without a seizure recurrence (SR) were enrolled.
  
  
  
  Clinical features strongly associated with SR in the univariate analysis included a symptomatic etiology for seizures, a history of status epilepticus, treatment duration before stopping antiepileptic drugs, and abnormal EEG findings at the time of stopping antiepileptic drugs.
  
  
  
  We found that a history of status epilepticus, symptomatic partial epilepsy, treatment duration before stopping antiepileptic drugs, and an abnormal EEG when the medication was stopped are important predictors of SR. The risk factors of SR after discontinuing antiepileptic drugs have been investigated in several studies. However, a history of status epilepticus as a predictive factor is rarely mentioned.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Institute of Medicine, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Inn-Chi
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Genetics Laboratory and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: i0000528@ms12.hient.net.
authors.forename: Shuan-Yow
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: pcyj@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yung-Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012640:Seizures / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: antiepileptic drug; children; epilepsy; outcome; recurrence; remission