[The malignancy of early-onset epilepsy (catamnestic study)]

The originality of the present study derives from the continuous and prolonged observation of over 100 epileptics--presently late adolescents and young adults treated from childhood by the same physician. All cases of infantile epilepsy with spontaneously favourable evolution were automatically excluded. The author defines some criterions of evaluation of the remote prognosis. The earlier the epilepsy appears, the more restricted the potentiality of autonomy will be. The risk of total invalidity arises to 50% for patients whose epilepsy started before they were 6 years old. It decreases significantly when the epilepsy starts after the age of 6 years. Beside the West and Lennox syndroms cases, for which the autonomy is very reduced, the prognosis gets distinctly worse in cases of inaugural epileptic state; it is slightly better in cases with hemiconvulsive start. The numerous and serious emotional complications make also the prognosis worse as they reduce, more than the persistence of the fits and the low intellectual level, the potentiality of socioprofessional integration.