SURVEY OF EPILEPSY SYNDROMES IN INFANTS ACCORDING TO THE 2022 CLASSIFICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE AGAINST EPILEPSY AT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL NO. 2
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Abstract
Background: Epilepsy with onset in infancy is a severe neurological disorder with heterogeneous clinical manifestations and long-term developmental consequences. The 2022 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification of epilepsy syndromes for children under 2 years provides a new diagnostic framework; however, its application in routine clinical practice in Vietnam remains limited.
Objectives: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics and to evaluate the applicability of the ILAE 2022 epilepsy syndrome classification in infants.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 106 children aged 1–24 months diagnosed with epilepsy and treated at the Department of Neurology, Children’s Hospital No. 2, from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. Cases that did not meet the diagnostic criteria for epilepsy syndromes according to ILAE 2022 at baseline were followed and re-evaluated after 4 months.
Results: The median age at seizure onset was 5.5 months, with 70% occurring before 12 months of age. Focal-onset seizures were the most frequent (40.6%), and EEG abnormalities were present in 80.2% of cases. An identifiable etiology was found in 28.3%. Epilepsy syndromes were classified in 14.1% at baseline and increased to 43.4% after 4 months of follow-up, with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies being more common than self-limited epileptic syndromes.
Conclusions: Epilepsy with onset in infancy presents with diverse clinical features and etiologies. The ILAE 2022 epilepsy syndrome classification is valuable for standardizing diagnosis; however, longitudinal follow-up and reassessment are necessary to improve classification rates in clinical practice.
Keywords
Epilepsy syndromes, infancy, ILAE 2022
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References
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