Risk Factors in Childhood Intractable Epilepsy

Objective: Intractable epilepsy is defined as a continuation of a seizure although antiepileptic drugs prescribed in accordance with the seizure type has been administered with adequate timing and dosage. Factors such as sex, age at onset of the seizure, family history, previous febrile seizure, mental and motor retardation, type of seizure, electroencephalography, and abnormal findings in neuroradiological imaging may cause resistance in treating epilepsy. Determining the risk factors of intractable epilepsy may be useful in the early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of the disease. This study aimed to determine the possible risk factors for the development of intractable epilepsy. Methods: A questionnaire was completed face to face by the families of 210 patients with childhood epilepsy who applied to the Department of Child Neurology, Gaziantep University School of Medicine between January 2018 and September 2018 and were followed up. Data analysis was performed to determine the risk rates for the development of intractable epilepsy. Results: Early-seizure onset, abnormal neurological examination, microcephaly, symptomatic and cryptogenic epilepsy, electroencephalography abnormality, pathology, and specific epileptic syndrome were found to be the effective risk factors for the development of intractable epilepsy. Conclusion: The lack of the clear understanding of the definition of intractable epilepsy in the literature and the inability to clearly define its limits lead to contradicting results on the risk factors for it. Determining the exact criteria to evaluate the risk of developing intractable epilepsy in future studies and patient follow-up will guide the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of patients with intractable epilepsy. Keywords: Epilepsy, intractable epilepsy, intractable childhood, risk factor