Abstracts

Rationale: Specific epilepsy syndromes begin during adolescence and create significant psychosocial difficulties, which is a psychosocial burden faced by people with epilepsy that can indirectly affect their quality of life. We aimed to describe the profile of children with adolescent-onset epilepsy and to determine factors predictive of outcome.

Methods: We performed retrospective chart review (March 2018 – February 2022, Chungbuk National University Hospital) of patients with epilepsy, with seizure onset between the age of 10 years and 20 years old. The following information was obtained through systematic inpatient and outpatient chart review; gender, family history of epilepsy, seizure type at presentation, age at first suspected seizure, comorbidity such as developemental delay, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, findings of brain MRI and EEG, presence of an epileptic syndrome, treatment and the clinical status at last visit.

Results: A total of 59 outpatient patients (36 boys, 23 girls) were included. The median age at first seizure and diagnosis were 13.1 (range 10.1~15.7) and 11.7 years (range 10.3-16.6 years), respectively. 32.3% had comorbid disease and 13.6% had a family history of epilepsy. Generalized epilepsy accounted for 81.4% of all cases, and the most common epilepsy syndrome was idiopathic generalized epilepsy (69.5%), followed by juvenile absence epilepsy (6.8%) and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (5.1%). EEG showed normal findings in 26 patients (44.1%). Of the 50 patients treated for more than 6 months, 70.0% of them had seizure resolution before 12 months. Twenty-two patients underwent monotherapy, and the most common drug was levetiracetam.

Conclusions: A good outcome for adolescent-onset epilepsy can generally be expected in the short term. Our data will improve our understanding of adolescent-onset epilepsy and assist in treatment.

Funding: None