Prevalence and classification of childhood epilepsy in Alexandria: single tertiary referral hospital study

Background Approximately 75% of epilepsy begins during childhood. Aim The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of epilepsy and its types and classifications among children with neurological disorders attending the Outpatient Neurology Clinic, Alexandria University Children’s Hospital. Patients and methods This is a retrospective study. All children with a diagnosis of epilepsy attending the clinic between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 were included. Patients’ data were collected from records. Results The prevalence of epilepsy among neurological disorders was 16.4% (88 cases from a total of 537 cases with neurological disorders). The age of the patients ranged between 1 and 14 years; 52.3% were females. 77.3% had genetic epilepsy, 15.9% had structural epilepsy, 3.4% had infectious epilepsy, 2.3% had metabolic epilepsy and 1.1% had mixed epilepsy. 52% had generalized tonic–clonic seizures, 29.5% had focal seizures, 9.1% had focal to bilateral seizures, 4.5% had absence seizures, 3.4% had atonic seizures and 1.1% had myoclonic seizures. 60.2% underwent interictal electroencephalography (EEG); 75.5% of them had abnormal EEG findings. 87.5% of the patients were on antiepileptic drugs: 60.2% of them were on monotherapy and 27.2% were on polytherapy. 52.8% of patients on monotherapy were treated by Na Valproate, 53% by Carbamazpine, and 11.3% by Levetiracetam. Seizure control was achieved in 28.4% of treated patients. Correlations between the etiology of epilepsy and computed tomography, MRI, and EEG findings were statistically significant. Conclusion The prevalence of epilepsy among patients with neurological disorders is considered to be mild to moderate. Generalized tonic–clonic seizures, genetic etiology, and monotherapy control of the attacks are considered the most prevalent characteristics of the disease.