Familial Occurrence of Epilepsy in Children with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Seizures: Dutch Study of Epilepsy in Childhood

Abstract

In 10% of children with newly diagnosed epilepsy, the condition is familial. Relatively more often, these children have generalized epilepsy syndromes as compared with children with a negative family history. Most of the relatives with idiopathic or cryptogenic epilepsy had the same seizure type as the proband. These findings confirm the role of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of epilepsy.