Early Identification of Refractory Epilepsy

Epilepsy is estimated to affect approximately 50 million people worldwide. 1 Although the prognosis for the majority of patients is good, 2 up to 30 percent do not have remission despite appropriate therapy with antiepileptic drugs 3 – 5 ; the results are substantial deleterious effects on individual health and quality of life and a heavy burden on society. 6 The characteristics of this group of patients are ill defined, but possible unfavorable prognostic factors include an early onset of epilepsy and the presence of symptomatic or cryptogenic epilepsy, multiple types of seizures, large numbers of seizures before treatment, complex febrile seizures or febrile status . . .