A case report of a family with overlapping features of autosomal dominant febrile seizures and GEFS+.

Familial febrile seizures occur in both generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) and autosomal dominant febrile seizures (ADFS). The literature largely separates families with GEFS+ from those with ADFS. However, there is clinical overlap, and families with ADFS also include individuals with afebrile seizures.

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy with absences: syndrome classification.

In a cohort of 275 Caucasians with a broad IGE phenotype, patients with absences were classified. Criteria of the 1989 Commission on Classification of the International League Against Epilepsy for Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE 1989 criteria) were compared with the stricter criteria of the ILAE Task Force for Classification and Terminology (CAE 2005 criteria). Among the 129 patients with absences without significant myoclonus, 50 had juvenile absence epilepsy 44 had CAE according to the CAE 1989 criteria and only 30 had CAE according to the CAE 2005 criteria.

Risk factors in sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP): the quest for mechanisms.

People with epilepsy may die suddenly and unexpectedly without a structural pathological cause. Most SUDEP cases are likely to be related to seizures. SUDEP incidence varies and is <1:1,000 person-years among prevalent cases in the community and approximately 1:250 person years in specialist centres.