Syndromic classification in the management of childhood epilepsy.

Epilepsy syndromes, defined as clusters of symptoms or signs occurring consistently together, form the basis of the currently accepted classification of the epilepsies. The concept of epilepsy syndrome is practical for the diagnosis, prognosis, orientation of treatment, and selection of appropriate investigations, but it is of variable specificity and usually does not give information on causes and mechanisms of an epilepsy. Some syndromes, such as childhood absences, partial epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes, or juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, are precisely characterized while other syndromes such as grand mal on awakening or the multiple syndromes with myoclonic seizures are poorly delineated. The usefulness of the concept is limited to well-defined and generally accepted syndromes and many cases of epilepsy do not fit easily in recognizable syndromes.