EPILEPSY IN PATIENTS WITH CEREBRAL-PALSY

The incidence of epilepsy in 323 patients with cerebral palsy (CP) was 41.8%. Almost half of the patients with spastic tetraplegia and hemip legia had epilepsy. The incidence was lower in patients with spastic d iplegia. No sex differences were observed. Partial seizures were by fa r the most common form of epilepsy in spastic hemiplegia, while genera lized tonic-clonic episodes predominated in all other forms of CP. A v ery high incidence of West syndrome was observed in patients with spas tic tetraplegia. Most of the patients with spastic tetraplegia had the ir first seizure in the first year of life. In patients with spastic h emiplegia the onset of epilepsy was often delayed for several years. A high rate of polytherapy was recorded, but two-thirds of the patients remained seizure-free for long periods. In just over one-fifth of the patients successful withdrawal of medication was achieved.