Causes and Risk Factors of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy in Children
Iranian Journal of Child Neurology,
Vol. 17 No. 3 (2023),
17 July 2023
,
Page 79-85
https://doi.org/10.22037/ijcn.v17i1.33814
Abstract
Objective
Epilepsy, defined as the tendency to have recurrent unprovoked seizures, is the most common and chronic neurological disorder worldwide. About 20% to 40% of children with epilepsy suffer from refractory seizures, causing several neurological, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments. Identifying the factors contributing to pediatric refractory seizures can help neurologists in effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of their patients.
Materials & Methods
In this cross-sectional study 2 to 16 years old children with refractory seizures (drug-resistant epilepsy), were assessed regarding their demographic and seizure-associated characteristics.
Results
Children with refractory seizures had a significantly higher rate of neonatal asphyxia, hospitalization after birth, neonatal seizures, seizure in the first year of life, history of infantile spasm and symptomatic epilepsy. Also, polymorphic seizures, brain MRI abnormalities were significantly more frequent among them. Several different mechanisms have been suggested for explaining intractability in epileptic patients. None of the mechanisms can explain all patients. The most common underlying etiologies for seizures in the intractable group were hypoxic-ischemic damage, cerebral dysgenesis, genetic disorders.
Conclusions
Seizure intractability is the result of a great deleterious change in the structure of the brain. Early identification of the risk factors and prediction of patients likely to have pharmaco-resistant epilepsy will allow more aggressive treatment and earlier specialized intervention.
- Drug Resistant Epilepsy
- Risk factors
- Child
How to Cite
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