%0 Journal Article %1 Zafeiriou1999b %A Zafeiriou, D. I. %A Kontopoulos, E. E. %A Tsikoulas, I. %D 1999 %J J Child Neurol %K Cerebral Palsy; Child; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mental Retardation; Prevalence; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Recurrence; Severity of Illness Index; Tomography, X-Ray Computed %N 5 %P 289--294 %T Characteristics and prognosis of epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy. %V 14 %X The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence and characteristics of epilepsy in a population of patients with cerebral palsy in a university referral center and to determine the rate of relapse caused by discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs after a 3-year seizure-free period. A total of 178 consecutive patients with cerebral palsy and epilepsy were prospectively followed for 9.2 +/- 2.4 years after onset of seizures and compared to a control group of 150 epileptic patients without cerebral palsy (median follow-up period, 10.5 years). The overall prevalence of epilepsy was 36.1\%. Patients with atonic-diplegic, dystonic, tetraplegic, and hemiplegic cerebral palsy had a higher incidence of epilepsy (87.5\%, 87.1\%, 56.5\%, and 42\%, respectively). In all, 134 (75.3\%) patients were seizure free for more than 3 years and could discontinue therapy, whereas 44 patients (24.7\%) were still on antiepileptic drugs. Eighteen of 134 patients relapsed after a 3-year seizure-free period and subsequent discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs, thus giving a relapse rate of 13.4\%. First seizures occurred during the first year of life in 69.7\% of the patients with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Complete control of seizures could be achieved in 65.2\% of the patients with cerebral palsy and epilepsy; however, regardless of the prognosis of seizures, epilepsy was a major prognostic factor regarding both the presence of mental retardation and the motor development of children with cerebral palsy.

@article{Zafeiriou1999b, abstract = {The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence and characteristics of epilepsy in a population of patients with cerebral palsy in a university referral center and to determine the rate of relapse caused by discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs after a 3-year seizure-free period. A total of 178 consecutive patients with cerebral palsy and epilepsy were prospectively followed for 9.2 +/- 2.4 years after onset of seizures and compared to a control group of 150 epileptic patients without cerebral palsy (median follow-up period, 10.5 years). The overall prevalence of epilepsy was 36.1\%. Patients with atonic-diplegic, dystonic, tetraplegic, and hemiplegic cerebral palsy had a higher incidence of epilepsy (87.5\%, 87.1\%, 56.5\%, and 42\%, respectively). In all, 134 (75.3\%) patients were seizure free for more than 3 years and could discontinue therapy, whereas 44 patients (24.7\%) were still on antiepileptic drugs. Eighteen of 134 patients relapsed after a 3-year seizure-free period and subsequent discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs, thus giving a relapse rate of 13.4\%. First seizures occurred during the first year of life in 69.7\% of the patients with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Complete control of seizures could be achieved in 65.2\% of the patients with cerebral palsy and epilepsy; however, regardless of the prognosis of seizures, epilepsy was a major prognostic factor regarding both the presence of mental retardation and the motor development of children with cerebral palsy.}, added-at = {2014-07-20T09:30:46.000+0200}, author = {Zafeiriou, D. I. and Kontopoulos, E. E. and Tsikoulas, I.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2eb376ac46df9f347f54cd398fddff453/ar0berts}, groups = {public}, interhash = {097e15c7cd75b79cee39be263cc23490}, intrahash = {eb376ac46df9f347f54cd398fddff453}, journal = {J Child Neurol}, keywords = {Cerebral Palsy; Child; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mental Retardation; Prevalence; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Recurrence; Severity of Illness Index; Tomography, X-Ray Computed}, month = May, number = 5, pages = {289--294}, pmid = {10342595}, timestamp = {2014-07-20T09:30:46.000+0200}, title = {Characteristics and prognosis of epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy.}, username = {ar0berts}, volume = 14, year = 1999 }