CLINICAL PROFILE AND ETIOLOGY OF PARTIAL SEIZURES IN NORTH INDIAN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

One hundred neurologically normal children aged 3 months to 12 years w ith partial seizures of recent onset were studied prospectively for th e clinical profile and etiology. The seizures were partial complex in 65% and simple partial in 35%. The site of seizure origin, as determin ed by EEG, and clinical picture was frontoparietal (43%), frontal (31% ), and parietotemporal (24%). Computed tomography (CT) scan showed les ions in 49 patients. In 88% cases, the lesions corresponded to the sit e of seizure onset. None of the clinical or EEG features were helpful in predicting the presence of abnormal CT finding. A cause of seizures could be identified in 50 patients-in all eight infants less than 1 y ear of age and among 42 (45.7%) of 92 children more than I year of age . Neurocysticercosis (13 cases) and tuberculoma (12 cases) were the tw o most common underlying causes. CT scan provided a helpful early clue in making an etiological diagnosis. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.