Prognosis of epilepsy in newly referred patients: a multicenter prospective study

Abstract

A multicenter prospective study was initiated at the time of first antiepileptic treatment for afebrile seizures with 283 unselected patients in Italy. Each patient started with monotherapy at standard daily doses. Data were collected at admission, at scheduled 6-month exams. The average lenght of follow-up was 21.6 months. Seizure relapse occurred in 52% of cases during follow-up. A larger number of seizures before therapy and the presence of combined seizure patterns were the variables most commonly associated with relpase. In general, the earlier the first relapse the higher the risk of developing more severe disease. A larger number of seizures before treament, combined seizure types, earlier age at onset, and prolonged disease duration (1 month to 1 year) seemed to be more frequently associated with the development of moderate-to-severe epilepsy