[Should computed axial tomography of the skull be done in all pediatric patients with epilepsy?]

The charts of 118 children with epilepsy (64 boys and 54 girls) from the Pediatric Hospital of the National Medical Center, Mexican Institute of Social Security, were surveyed. Results are as follow: 21% had a family history of epilepsy; 15.3% had pathological findings in simple skull x-ray. In 50% of the cases there were a normal CT scan and in the remaining 50% there were pathological findings, such as cerebral atrophy (12.7%) and neurocysticercosis (10%). The CT scan was abnormal in 51% of partial seizures cases and in 41.8% of those with generalized seizures. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was abnormal in 85.7% of both simple and complex seizures cases. EEG was abnormal in 85.4% of cases with generalized seizures. We do not intend to establish a comparison between EEG and CT scan, but to show the usefulness of CT scan in children with epilepsy. Finally an algorithm for correct CT scan prescription in children with epilepsy is proposed.