Characteristics of valproic acid resistant juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is often exquisitely responsive to treatment with valproic acid (VPA). However, a subset of patients does not respond to this medication and often has intractable seizures. We wanted to identify differences between these two subsets of JME patients . Charts of all J...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seizure (London, England) England), 2000-09, Vol.9 (6), p.385-388
Main Authors: Fernando-Dongas, Maria C., Radtke, Rodney A., VanLandingham, Kevan E., Husain, Aatif M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use
Drug Resistance
EEG
Electroencephalography
Female
Humans
juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile - diagnosis
Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile - drug therapy
refractory
valproic acid
Valproic Acid - therapeutic use
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is often exquisitely responsive to treatment with valproic acid (VPA). However, a subset of patients does not respond to this medication and often has intractable seizures. We wanted to identify differences between these two subsets of JME patients . Charts of all JME patients followed at the Duke Epilepsy Center were reviewed. Clinical parameters, electroencephalogram (EEG) findings and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were reviewed. These features were compared between patients with VPA sensitive and VPA resistant JME. Thirty-three patients with JME were identified: 23 (70%) were VPA sensitive (13 females, 10 males; mean age of onset 15.9 years) and 10 (30%) were VPA resistant (5 females, 5 males; mean age of onset 14.1 years). The VPA resistant group had a higher frequency of EEG asymmetries (40% vs. 10%); atypical seizure characteristics including auras and post-ictal confusion (30% vs. 4%); and intellectual deficiency (20% vs. 0%). Clinical characteristics combined with EEG data may help in predicting which JME patients will respond favorably to VPA. This study also raises the issue whether VPA resistant JME is in fact a localization-related epilepsy.
ISSN:1059-1311
1532-2688
DOI:10.1053/seiz.2000.0432