Idiopathic (genetic) generalized epilepsies with absences: clinical and electrographic characteristics and seizure...

We compared various syndromes of idiopathic (genetic) generalized epilepsy (IGE) with absences based on their demographic, clinical, and electroencephalographic (EEG) findings, and their seizure outcome.

In this retrospective study, all patients with a clinical diagnosis of childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE), idiopathic epilepsy with phantom absences (PAs), and Jeavons syndrome (JS) were recruited at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from 2008 until 2019. Age, gender, age at seizure onset, seizure type(s), epilepsy risk factors, history of seizure-related injuries, EEG findings, and seizure outcome of all patients were registered routinely.

Six hundred one patients with IGE were registered at our epilepsy clinic. Two hundred thirteen patients (35.4%) were diagnosed as having IGE with absences [111 patients (52.1%) had JAE, 82 patients (38.5%) had CAE, 12 people (5.6%) had JS, and eight patients (3.8%) had PA]. A history of experiencing generalized tonic-clonic seizures and a history of seizure-related injury were significantly different between the syndromes. There were no significant differences between the syndromes with regard to their EEG findings. Seizure outcome showed a trend to be different between the syndromes of IGE (p = 0.06).

Syndromes of IGE with absences are common occurrences at epilepsy clinics. Making a syndromic diagnosis could have significant clinical implications. In doing so, interictal EEG cannot differentiate between different syndromes of IGE and the key element in making a correct syndromic diagnosis is a detailed clinical history.