Follow-up study of 482 cases with convulsive disorders in the first year of life

A total of 482 patients who had one or more seizures in the first year of life were followed for at least five years (most for more than 10 years). The patients were divided into four groups: febrile convulsions, infantile spasms, status epilecticus and ‘other’. Of those with febrile convulsions, 62 percent developed normally, compared with 14 percent in the group with infantile spasms, 15 percent with status epilecticus, and 24 percent in the ‘other’ group. Findings on the recurrent seizures, epilepsy and mental retardation and/or neurological abnormalities are also reported. Epilepsy developed equally frequently among those with partial and with generalized seizures, but the former more frequently became mentally retarded. The effects of severity of seizures and other factors are discussed. In general, confirmed the grave prognosis after seizures during the first year of life, and not only for West syndrome and status epilecticus. The outcome was more favourable when the seizures were cryptogenic or febrile, isolated, with onset in the second six months, generalised, and when the EEG was normal between seizures.