ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate clinical features and the pathophysiology of 43 children with atypical idiopathic partial epilepsies of childhood(IPEC)that is unclassified according to the International League Against Epilepsy classification.Methods All the children with partial epilepsy of childhood in out hospital were followed up,including those age-related cases with benign process and excluding those with benign epilepsy of childhood with centro-temporal EEG foci,Panayiotopoulos type and Gastaut type.We reviewed their EEGs,seizures and therapeutic data to analyze the semiologieal characters and the interietal activities during they were awake and sleeping.Results The average age of onset of epilepsy was 8.84years old.Frontal absences(43.2%),adversive seizures(47.7%)were more common.Everyday seizures occurred in 38.6%of patients and monthly seizures in 56.8%of patients.Atypical focal(43.2%),multifocal(27.3%),and generalized spike and waves(29.5%),were more predominant in frontal location when they were awake.During sleep,sharp waves generalized or the amplitude increased.At the last follow-up,88.6%of patients were in complete clinical remission and EEG in 22.7%of cases was normal.Among them 2 patients had stopped taking antiepileptic drugs(AEDs)and 6 patients were reducing the doses of AEDs.EEG Was abnormal only in sleep or decreased synchronization.The patients were more responsive to earbamazepine combined with sodium valproate(P<0.01).Conclusion Special partial epileptic syndrome is age-related,having excellent prognosis,which might origin from the frontal lobe.