Prognosis of partial epilepsy.

The prognosis of partial epilepsy in childhood (excluding cases of benign partial epilepsy) was studied; the average follow up period was 7.4 years. Improvement rate of seizure status was 82.3%. We studied favourable prognostic factors and found that those most often associated with seizure improvement were familial convulsions and idiopathic forms, no generalised seizures before partial onset, low frequency of seizures after 12 months of treatment, short duration of epilepsy, and no background activity abnormalities on electroencephalography. We also observed such factors as mental retardation, neurological abnormalities, and behaviour and cognitive disorders. Factors that determined the prognosis for social adjustment were similar to those for seizure improvement. We discuss the favourable prognosis of partial seizures in childhood and the predictive factors.