[Clinical and etiological aspects of focal epilepsy in children at Yaoundé Gynaeco-obstetric Hospital (Cameroon)]

OBJECTIVE

To describe the clinical and etiological aspects of child focal epilepsy at Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (YGOPH) in Cameroon.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in pediatric neurology and epileptology unit of YGOPH from October 1^st 2011 to March 30^th 2012. We included 218 patients aged 0-16 years with a diagnosis of focal epilepsy in whom an electroencephalogram (EEG) was performed. The studied variables were epidemiological, etiological factors, type of epilepsy, EEG abnormalities, abnormalities in brain CT-scan, and probable etiology.

RESULTS

The sex ratio was 1.34 M/1F. The mean age of patients was 8 ± 4 years. In 58.71% (128/218) the onset of crises was before the age of five and decreased gradually until adolescence. The EEG showed an epileptic focus in 161 patients (73.85%). The main foci were centro-temporal (19.9%), frontal (19.2%), temporal (14.9%) and fronto-temporal (14.9%). The CT-scan was abnormal in 58 (56.86%) of 102 patients, who performed head CT-scan, with as major abnormalities, brain atrophy and after-effects lesions. Etiological factors were found in 76.15 % of patients, it was mainly neonatal asphyxia (21%), family history of epilepsy (20.6%) and febrile seizures (19.7%). Focal epilepsies were of structural (51.4%), genetic (24.3%) or unknown causes. Neurological abnormalities associated were more frequently in focal epilepsies of structural causes.

CONCLUSION

The focal child epilepsies are mostly of structural causes and preferentially temporal and/or frontal in location. The main etiological factors are family history of epilepsy and neonatal asphyxia.