![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract This is a descriptive study, carried out on 5319 children aged (from birth till 15 years old) came to outpatient clinics of Benha children hospital. Our aim was to detect the prevalence of epilepsy in Benha (Kalubia). : 1- The data about the children attending the outpatient clinics (number, sex, age and address) were collected from medical files. 2- Age of the study group ranged from birth till 15 years old. 3- The data about the epileptic children (number, name, sex, age and address) also were collected from medical files. 4- Data about age at onset, type of seizure, possible aetiology, frequency of seizures, associated conditions and antiepileptic used were collected through individual interviews with epileptic children, physicians and family members whenever possible. It was found that: 1- 50 cases of epilepsy were identified, and the prevalence rate found to be 9.4/1000. 2- Of the fifty cases, 22 cases (44%) were males, and 28 cases (56%) were females. 3- Prevalence of epilepsy in boys is 8.56/1000, which is slightly lower than that of girls 10.1/1000. 4- About half of the children (46%) were free of seizures for 1 year. 5- 56% of children have their first seizure before the age of 5 years. 6- Partial seizures were more frequent (44%), than the generalized seizures (36%). 7- In most of epileptic children (74%), epilepsy was found to be of idiopathic type. 8- About 28% of total epileptic children were found to have positive family history. 9- Carbamazepine and valporic acid were the most common antiepileptic drugs used (40%, 40%), while phenobarbtail was the least drug used (4%). 10- Most patients were controlled on monotherapy drug (56%), while only (14%) of patients need more than two antiepileptic drugs. 11- Headache was the commonest associated condition in a percentage of about 20% of all epileptic patients. 12- Fever was the most common precipitant factor of seizures. 13- 18 patients had normal interictal EEG record, while 32 children showed abnormal interictal EEG. 14- Most patients showed no imaging abnormality and positive imaging findings were detected in 13 patients. |