Abstracts

Menarche on average occurs 2.5 years after the onset of puberty in healthy female adolescents. The normal age range for menarche is reported from 11 to 16.5 years with an average of 13.0 to 13.5 years at onset. Catamenial epilepsy has been described as increase in seizure frequency before or during the first few days of the menstruation and/or seizures at the time of ovulation. We proposed to analyze the age of menarche in female patients diagnosed with epilepsy to assess if epilepsy may influence the age of menarche. In addition we further assessed age of menarche in those patients with catamenial epilepsy and compared the age of menarche to those patients who did not have catamenial epilepsy., A prospective study was initiated in the outpatient epilepsy clinic of senior author. All female patients were instructed to complete a questionnaire as a part of a comprehensive evaluation of review of systems for issues pertaining to women with epilepsy. The patients were specifically questioned regarding: 1)age of onset of epilepsy, 2)age of menarche, 3)if seizures occurred in the 7 days prior to the menstruation, 4)if seizures occurred during the first 3-4 days of menstruation, and 5)if seizures occurred mid-cycle. The findings were confirmed by the physician during the interview., A total of 83 patients were identified with an average age of menarche of 12.68 years. Of the 83 patients, 29 (35%)had catamenial epilepsy with average age of menarche of 12.53 years. 54 patients (65%) did not have catamenial epilepsy with average of menarche of 12.78 years. There was no statistical significance in the difference of age of menarche in the two groups. Age of onset of epilepsy in patients with catamenial epilepsy was 17.37 years compared to 27.8 years in patients without catamenial epilepsy. Of the 29 patients with catamenial epilepsy, only 9(31%) experienced onset of epilepsy prior to or during the year of menarche. Note: Data collection is ongoing at the time of the submission of this abstract and the total number of patients included in the data analysis is expected to be approximately 150., In our study, females with epilepsy experience an earlier age of menarche compared to reported average age of menarche in healthy female adolescents. This may be due to multiple factors influencing the neuroendocrine axis such as seizures and anti-epileptic medications. There is, however, no difference in age of menarche in women with catamenial epilepsy compared to those women who do not have catamenial epilepsy. Patients with catamenial epilepsy had younger age of onset of epilepsy as compared to those women who did not have catamenial epilepsy. There was no relationship of epilepsy onset prior to and during the year of menarche as a factor associated with the development of catamential epilepsy.,