Abstracts

To determine the frequency of atypical clinical or electrographic features in children with BREC seen in a tertiary care children[apos]s hospital., All children diagnosed with BREC seen through the Neurology Clinic of the Alberta Children[apos]s Hospital over an 8 year period were retrospectively identified. Charts were reviewed for the presence of atypical clinical and electrographic features. [italic]Atypical clinical features[/italic] included daytime only seizures, atypical semiology, status epilepticus, developmental delay or learning problems, seizures refractory to [underline][gt][/underline]2 AEDs, seizure number [gt]25 over the course of their epilepsy. [italic]Atypical electrographic features[/italic] included background slowing or location of spikes outside the centrotemporal region., 66 children were identified (mean age at seizure onset 7 yrs, range 3-12, gender 45M:21F). AED treatment was initiated in 39 (59%). [italic]Atypical clinical features[/italic] were present in 27 (41%) and included daytime only seizures in 10, atypical semiology in 3, status epilepticus in 2, developmental delay/learning disorders in 11, refractory seizures in 2 and high seizure number in 5. [italic]Atypical electrographic features[/italic] were present in 15 (23%) including atypical location in 13 and background slowing in 2. No patient had more than one atypical electrographic feature. Atypical electrographic features did not occur more commonly amongst those with atypical clinical features (p=0.14). Patients with atypical clinical or electrographic features were neither more likely to be treated with AEDs (p=0.40) nor less likely to achieve a period of 1 year seizure-freedom at last follow-up (p=0.47) compared to those without these features., Atypical clinical and electrographic features are commonly seen in children with BREC but do not appear to adversely affect prognosis., (Supported by Alberta Childrens Hospital Foundation.)