Prognosis and clinical features of idiopathic generalised epilepsy patients older than 40 years [Ki{dotless}rk yaşi{dotless}n üstündeki Idyopatik jeneralize epilepsi olgulari{dotless}nda klinik özellikler ve prognoz]

Introduction: idiopathic generalised epilepsies (ige) are usually seen in the first two decades of life. there is a paucity of data of these patients when they get older. methods: patients admitted to our epilepsy center were screened for being older than 40 years at the time of last admission and being diagnosed with ige according to ilae-1989 criteria. the clinical features,syndromes and prognosis of 33 patients meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated retrospectively. results: nineteen (58%) were female and mean age was 50,24±10,29. 16 cases had juvenile myoclonic epilepsy,7 juvenile absence epilepsy,4 childhood absence epilepsy,2 ige with generalised convulsive seizures (gcs),3 atypical ige with absence status epilepticus (ase),1 late onset ige. 19 patients were using monotherapy whereas 13 were using polytherapy,and there is only one case without medication. the prognosis was evaluated as good in 54.5% (n:18) and as poor in 45.5 % (n: 15). absence of family history of epilepsy,male gender were related with good prognosis without statistical significance. prognosis was observed as better in the co-existence of myoclonia and gcs and in the group with gcs only,whereas the existence of absence seizures and frequent ase were associated with poor prognosis. conclusions: almost half of the ige patients older than 40 years had poor prognosis and should be followed up closely. it is remarkable that this group consists of well-known ige syndromes diagnosed earlier rather than being late onset and also includes atypical patients experiencing frequent ase.