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Updated: Feb 24, 2026
A Behavioral Screen for Heat-Induced Seizures in Mouse Models of Epilepsy
Published on: July 12, 2021
Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus: Refining the spectrum
Yue-Hua Zhang1, Rosemary Burgess1, Jodie P Malone1
1From the Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Y.-H.Z., R.B., J.P.M., G.C.G., K.L.H., L.V., B.E.G., S.T.B., D.F.V., J.A.D., M.S.H., S.F.B., I.E.S.), The University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Australia; Department of Pediatrics (Y.-H.Z.), Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China; Department of Neurology (L.V.), The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Australia; Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel (S.K., H.G.-S.), Petach Tikvah; Department of Neurology (Z.A.), Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Westmead Hospital (A.B.), New South Wales, Australia; Department of Neurology (P.G.-S.), Sydney Children's Hospital, Australia; Department of Neurology (A.D.K.), Tel Aviv University, Israel; Women's and Children's Hospital (L.M.D.), University of Adelaide, South Australia; Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics (E.K.R.), Semel Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Department of Paediatrics (I.E.S.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria; and The Florey Institute of Neurosciences and Mental Health (I.E.S.), Melbourne, Australia.
Objective:
Following our original description of generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) in 1997, we analyze the phenotypic spectrum in 409 affected individuals in 60 families (31 new families) and expand the GEFS+ spectrum.
Methods:
We performed detailed electroclinical phenotyping on all available affected family members. Genetic analysis of known GEFS+ genes was carried out where possible. We compared our phenotypic and genetic data to those published in the literature over the last 19 years.
Results:
We identified new phenotypes within the GEFS+ spectrum: focal seizures without preceding febrile seizures (16/409 [4%]), classic genetic generalized epilepsies (22/409 [5%]), and afebrile generalized tonic-clonic seizures (9/409 [2%]). Febrile seizures remains the most frequent phenotype in GEFS+ (178/409 [44%]), followed by febrile seizures plus (111/409 [27%]). One third (50/163 [31%]) of GEFS+ families tested have a pathogenic variant in a known GEFS+ gene.
Conclusion:
As 37/409 (9%) affected individuals have focal epilepsies, we suggest that GEFS+ be renamed genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus rather than generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus. The phenotypic overlap between GEFS+ and the classic generalized epilepsies is considerably greater than first thought. The clinical and molecular data suggest that the 2 major groups of generalized epilepsies share genetic determinants.
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