Abstract
The prognostic value of the electroencephalogram at 0 to 3 years of age was studied on 284 children with convulsive disorders in the first year of life, excluding febrile convulsions and occasional convulsions caused by an acute insult to the central nervous system (e. g., meningitis). All patients except 45 who died were follwed until 6 years of age or older. The number of children whose EEGs were obtained at ages 0, 1, 2, 3 years was 167, 102, 93 and 76, respectively.
Seizures had disappeared in 35% of children with focal spikes during the first two years, against 65% of children with focal spikes during the 4th year. Seventy-six percent of children without paroxysmal discharge during the first year had normal mental and physical development at the final follow-up, but the rate of normal mental and physical development in children without paroxysmal discharges decreased with increasing ages. At 3 years of age, there was no statistical significant difference on the long-term prognosis between the patients with and without paroxysmal discharges.
It was concluded that the prognostic value of electroencephalogram decreased with increasing age from 0 to 3 years in children with convulsive disorders with onset in the first year of life.
