Lennox-gastaut & West Syndromes in Korea: Nationwide Clinical Study
Abstract number :
2.213
Submission category :
4. Clinical Epilepsy / 4A. Classification and Syndromes
Year :
2024
Submission ID :
316
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/8/2024 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Authors :
Presenting Author: Yun Sung Nam, MD, MPH – Asan Medical Center
Mi-Sun Yum, MD, PhD – Ulsan University
Tae-Sung Ko, MD, PhD – Asan Medical Center
Ohcheol Kwon, MD – Asan Medical Center
Eon Ah Kim, MD – Asan Medical Center
Min-Jee Kim, MD, PhD – Asan Medical Center
Hwa Jung Kim, MD, PhD – Asan Medical Center
Rationale: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and West syndrome (WS) are well-known developmental epileptic encephalopathy. There are a few studies about the clinical features of these patients at a population level. This nationwide study in Korea aims to explore the clinical characteristics of LGS and WS patients using Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) records and to assess the developmental outcomes in this population.
Methods: We analyzed medical records from a national HIRA database covering 6,483 patients diagnosed with LGS or WS between January 2009 and December 2021. We also compared the clinical features of patients with and without comorbid diagnoses of mental retardation (MR) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Results: Among the patients, males slightly outnumbered females (57.5%). The average age at diagnosis was 6.7 years. The most common causes of LGS and WS were brain anomaly (20.6%), metabolic disease (11.2%), and cardiac disease (9.3%). The most frequently prescribed antiseizure medications were valproate (50.8%), topiramate (46.8%), and levetiracetam (46.1%). Epilepsy surgery was undergone by 367 patients (5.7%), while 339 patients (5.2%) received vagus nerve stimulation device insertion. Within the first-year post-diagnosis, patients visited the emergency room an average of 2.7 times, were hospitalized 5.9 times, and were admitted to the intensive care unit 1.5 times. The number of patients diagnosed with MR or ASD was 4320 (66.6%). Patients with MR or ASD had more identifiable etiology, used more antiseizure medications, and had more frequent emergency room visits and hospitalizations compared to those without these conditions.
Conclusions: This study represents the first nationwide investigation into the clinical characteristics of LGS and WS in Korea, utilizing a national database. Additionally, this study found that many LGS and WS patients have not been diagnosed with MR or ASD, and those without MR/ASD had a lower clinical burden than those with MR/ASD.
Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Clinical Epilepsy