Document Type
Report
Department
Paediatrics and Child Health (East Africa)
Abstract
Epilepsy syndromes have been recognized for >50 years, as distinct electroclini-cal phenotypes with therapeutic and prognostic implications. Nonetheless, noformally accepted International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification ofepilepsy syndromes has existed. The ILAE Task Force on Nosology and Definitionswas established to reach consensus regarding which entities fulfilled criteria for anepilepsy syndrome and to provide definitions for each syndrome. We defined an ep-ilepsy syndrome as “a characteristic cluster of clinical and electroencephalographicfeatures, often supported by specific etiological findings (structural, genetic, met-abolic, immune, and infectious).” The diagnosis of a syndrome in an individualwith epilepsy frequently carries prognostic and treatment implications. Syndromesoften have age- dependent presentations and a range of specific comorbidities. Thispaper describes the guiding principles and process for syndrome identification inboth children and adults, and the template of clinical data included for each syn-drome. We divided syndromes into typical age at onset, and further characterizedthem based on seizure and epilepsy types and association with developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathy or progressive neurological deterioration. Definitionsfor each specific syndrome are contained within the corresponding position papers.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Epilepsia
Recommended Citation
Wirrell, E. C.,
Nabbout, R.,
Scheffer, I. E.,
Alsaadi, T.,
Bogacz, A.,
French, J. A.,
Hirsch, E.,
Jain, S.,
Kaneko, S.,
Samia, P.
(2022). Methodology for classification and definition of epilepsy syndromes with list of syndromes: Report of the ILAE Task Force on Nosology and Definitions. Epilepsia, 63(6), 1333-1348.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_paediatr_child_health/194
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.