Abstract
Objetive: To describe the clinical and electroencephalographic features in a sample of patients diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The patients were part of the epilepsy program at the University of Antioquia in Medellin between 2007 and 2012.
Materials and methods: This was completed with an observational, descriptive and retrospective method. The data used was taken from the records of all patients diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome included in the epilepsy program at the University of Antioquia and who were evaluated by EEG video monitoring. Clinical and electroencephalographic variables were analyzed. For the analysis we used SPSS.
Resualts: We reviewed 18 video EEG. The average age of the patients was 19,89 years, with the gender being equally being balanced. Half of the patients had a prenatal risk. The average age of the first seizure was at 4,67 years and the average number of attacks per week was 31,17. The most frequent were atypical absence seizures in 17 patients (94,4%). The most commonly used drug was valproic acid. All patients experienced mental retardation and characteristic electroencephalographic findings of the syndrome, during both times of wakefulness and sleep. Most abnormalities were observed during superficial sleep.
Conclusions: The Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is one of the most severe epileptic encephalopathies with onset during childhood and with large social and economic costs and poor prognosis due to its associated morbid conditions.
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