A course of idiopathic generalized epilepsy in adult and elderly patients

Thirty-six patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) aged 35-67 years (mean age 44,4 +/- 10,6 years, 14 male, 22 female) have been studied. Ten of them were over 50 years, 8 had a diagnosis of juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE); 12-juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and 16-awakening epilepsy (AE), IGE with isolated generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The control group included 80 patients with IGE (22 male, 58 female aged 15-34 years, mean age 20,5 4,3 years), 29 of them being affected with JAE, 28-IME, 23-AE. Elderly patients with IGE experienced difficulties in the control over absences, myoclonic seizures and generalized seizures. In this group, the seizures-free cases were rare. The results suggest worse clinical prognosis of IGE for elderly patients as compared with young ones.