Seizure outcome in patients with juvenile absence epilepsy

The purpose of this study was to identify seizure outcome and factors potentially predictive for seizure outcome in patients with juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE). In this case-control study all patients with JAE were recruited at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from 2008 till 2012. All patients had to be under the care of the epileptologist for at least 18 months. We divided the patients into two groups: patients who were seizure free in the last 12 months of their follow-up period and those who had any seizures. During the study period, 2750 patients with epilepsy were registered at our epilepsy clinic; 641 patients (23.3 %) had idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Among patients with IGE, 81 patients (12.6 %) were diagnosed as having JAE and of these, 33 patients (20 women and 13 men) were eligible to enter into the study. Ten patients (30.3 %) were seizure free in the last 12 months of their follow-up and 23 (69.6 %) patients reported at least one seizure of any type. We could not identify any factor to be associated with seizure outcome in these patients. All studies in the literature suffer from small number of patients; so does our study. Besides, they used different methodologies. A large multicenter study is required to explore the variables that predict seizure outcome in patients with juvenile absence epilepsy. This is particularly needed to provide an appropriate counselling for patients and their families and also to formulate better individualized treatment plans for the patients.