Characteristics of symptomatic epilepsy in hospitalized children two years and younger

: The authors discuss diagnostic and therapeutic problems of 248 children below 2 years of age hospitalized in the Department of Pediatric Neurology in Krakow in the years 1995-2000. The analysis included the type of seizures and supplementary examinations, including electrophysiological tests with video EEG and neuroimaging studies. The mental and motor development of these patients was also evaluated along with the employed therapy and its effectiveness. In the majority of children epilepsy was symptomatic and most often resulted from perinatal pathologies. The predominant type of seizures was generalized; of 248 children in 33 the characteristic epileptic syndrome was diagnosed. Among children with epilepsy seizure control was achieved in 77% of cases, while in children with symptomatic epilepsy the corresponding control rate was 67%.