Abstracts

Rationale: To review in a retrospective fashion the incidence of epilepsy and developmental delay in patients with tuberous sclerosis Methods: We collected data on 10 patients with the diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex and seizures that were seen between 2000 and 2007 Results: Of the 10 patients reviewed significant data was obtained on 7 patients ranging from one month to sixteen years of age. Of the seven patients, 42% had mild developmental delay to severe mental retardation all with a predominance of speech delay. Of these patients, 71% had seizures prior to one year of age and the remaining 29% developed seizures by the age of 2. 100% of patients were diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis soon after the onset of the seizures. One patient was found not to have any correlation on EEG with his tonic clinical events and was eventually taken off his antiepileptic medication. 2 patients presented with febrile status epilepticus as their initial presentation but remained seizure free on their first AED. 2 patients required multiple AED’s for treatment. 1 patient had intractable seizures requiring surgery. Of the 7 patients, 2 patients underwent surgery for removal of epileptogenic brain tissue. One patient had a hemispherectomy at the age of 3 years with residual hemiparesis but complete resolution of seizures and improvement in development with the start of speech and ambulation after surgery. The other patient had removal of a subcortical tuber with no further seizures and was discontinued off antiepileptic medication and developed only a mild speech delay. Conclusions: Tuberous sclerosis complex is associated with varying degrees of learning disabilities and epilepsy. Often better seizure control can help improve developmental outcomes which were found in our review.