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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Neuropediatrics 2024; 55(04): 232-240
DOI: 10.1055/a-2217-0336
Original Article

Adolescent-Onset Epilepsy: Clinical Features and Predictive Factors for First-Year Seizure Freedom

Jon Soo Kim 
1   Department of Pediatrics, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
,
Hyewon Woo
1   Department of Pediatrics, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
,
Jae Hee Lee
1   Department of Pediatrics, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
,
Won Seop Kim
1   Department of Pediatrics, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
2   Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
› Author Affiliations Funding This work was supported by Chungbuk National University Hospital.
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Abstract

Background Teenagers with epilepsy require special attention to ensure a successful treatment journey. Our objective was to delineate the clinical characteristics of adolescent-onset epilepsy (AOE) and investigate the predictive factors influencing first-year seizure freedom.

Methods We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients whose first seizure occurred between the ages of 10 and 19 years and who received antiseizure medication (ASM) treatment for at least 12 months.

Results A total of 67 patients were included, with an average age of 13.5 ± 2.3 years at the onset of their first seizure. The average follow-up period was 45.2 ± 16.9 months, and comorbid conditions were present in 23 patients (34.3%). The majority of the patient population (83.6%) was affected by generalized epilepsy. The most common epilepsy syndrome was epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures alone at 70.1% (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy 11.9%, juvenile absence epilepsy 1.5%). Regarding ASM treatment, 31 patients (46.3%) received monotherapy, and 28 (41.8%) received dual therapy. Five patients (7.5%) encountered issues related to medication adherence. First-year seizure freedom was observed in 42 patients (62.7%). In multivariate analysis, a negative family history of epilepsy (odds ratio 12.1, 95% confidence interval 1.27–115.44, p = 0.030) was identified as a strong predictive factor of first-year seizure freedom, along with ASM monotherapy (odds ratio 3.99, 95% confidence interval 1.05–15.21, p = 0.043).

Conclusion These findings suggest that AOE typically exhibits effective control of seizures. A negative family history of epilepsy and ASM monotherapy emerges as robust predictor of achieving favorable outcomes within the early stage of treatment.

Keywords

adolescent - seizures - epilepsy

Ethics Statement

The study was conducted in adherence to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Chungbuk National University Hospital (IRB No. 2023-08-003). Given the retrospective design of the study, the requirement for written consent was waived.




Publication History

Received: 16 October 2023

Accepted: 19 November 2023

Accepted Manuscript online:
23 November 2023

Article published online:
24 January 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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