Prognostic factors in absence seizures.

A prospective follow-up study was conducted on 48 epileptic patients (22 males and 26 females) who had participated in a collaborative study of absence seizures about 7 years earlier. Multivariate analysis showed that the significant prognostic factors for absence seizures were normal or above normal intelligence and normal electroencephalographic background activity. For any seizure type, significant prognostic factors were a negative history of generalized tonic-clonic seizures, normal or above normal intelligence, and a negative family history of seizure disorders. Nearly 90 percent of the patients with all significant prognostic factors for both absence seizures and seizures of all types ceased having seizures.