Incidence of Childhood Epilepsy in Estonia.

The aim of this prospective epidemiological study was to establish the incidence rate of childhood epilepsy in Estonia, to describe the clinical spectrum and to identify etiology of childhood epilepsy. The overall incidence rate was 86.3/100 000.

Newly-diagnosed pediatric epilepsy is associated with elevated autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase but not cardiolipin.

Glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA) and anti-cardiolipin autoantibodies (ACA) have been detected in adult subjects with epilepsy, though the functional implications of these findings are a matter of debate. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of GADA and ACA and to investigate their clinical significance in pediatric subjects with newly-diagnosed epilepsy. For this purpose GADA and ACA were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in 208 pediatric patients with newly-diagnosed epilepsy and 128 controls.

Descriptive epidemiology of spinal muscular atrophy type I in Estonia.

Spinal muscular atrophy is the second most frequent autosomal-recessive disorder in Europeans. There are no published epidemiological data on SMA in Estonia and other Baltic countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of SMA I in Estonia.

A descriptive epidemiological study of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in childhood in Estonia.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most frequent muscle disorder in childhood. There are no data on the epidemiology of muscular dystrophy in Estonia and the other Baltic States. The present study assessed the incidence and prevalence of DMD in Estonia.