Risk factors and prognosis of epilepsy in children with hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Objective: Epilepsy is reported in 15-90% of the children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) but its clinical course is not well defined. We conducted a retrospective study on children with hemiparetic CP who were referred to Pediatric Neurology Department of Mofid Hospital. The aim of our study was to evaluate the risk factors and prognosis of epilepsy in children with hemiparetic CP. Materials & Methods: We evaluated 64 children with hemiparetic CP who were referred to Pediatric Neurology Department of Mofid Hospital between 2006 and 2008. According to our protocol, patients were divided into two groups: 34 children in the case group (hemiparetic patients with epilepsy) and 30 children in the control group (hemiparetic patients without epilepsy). Results: Prenatal, perinatal and postnatal events, maternal age at the time of delivery, socioeconomic status of the family, familial history of epilepsy, neuroimaging findings, side of the hemiparesia and age at diagnosis of hemiparesis were not considered as risk factors for epilepsy in hemiparetic children, but microcephaly, severity of hemiparetic CP and mental retardation were significantly associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in children with hemiparetic CP. Conclusion: Our study showed that microcephaly, severity of hemiparesis and mental retardation were risk factors for developing epilepsy in children with hemiparetic CP; furthermore, they had negative effects on rehabilitation outcome in these patients.