Clinical features associated with epilepsy occurrence, resolution, and drug resistance in children with cerebral palsy: A population‐based study

• Published in: Developmental medicine and child neurology 2024-06, Vol.66 (6), p.793-803
• Main Authors: Feroze, Nimra, Karim, Tasneem, Ostojic, Katarina, Mcintyre, Sarah, Barnes, Elizabeth H., Lee, Byoung Chan, Badawi, Nadia, Mohammad, Shekeeb S, Paget, Simon, Dale, Russell C., Gill, Deepak, Kothur, Kavitha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use; Cerebral Palsy - complications; Child; Child, Preschool; Drug Resistance; Drug Resistant Epilepsy - drug therapy; Drug Resistant Epilepsy - genetics; Epilepsy - drug therapy; Female; Humans; Infant; Intellectual Disability; Male; New South Wales - epidemiology; Registries; Severity of Illness Index; Vision Disorders - etiology
• ISSN: 0012-1622; 1469-8749
• DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.15807

Aim To investigate clinicoradiological features associated with epilepsy, its resolution, and drug resistance in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method Data were gathered from the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory CP Register, encompassing children with CP born between 2003 and 2015 (n = 1916). Clinical features and the severity of impairments were compared among three groups: children with current epilepsy (n = 604), those with resolved epilepsy by age 5 years (n = 109), and those without epilepsy (n = 1203). Additionally, a subset of the registry cohort attending Children's Hospital Westmead (n = 256) was analysed to compare epilepsy and treatment characteristics between drug‐responsive (n = 83) and drug‐resistant groups (n = 147) using logistic regression and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results Manual Ability Classification System levels IV and V, intellectual impairment, and vision impairment were found to be associated with epilepsy in children with CP on multivariable analysis (p