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•     Syndromes
  •         Aicardi Syndrome
  •         Doose Syndrome
  •         Dravet Syndrome
  •         Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
  •         Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
•     Seizures and Autism
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Syndromes

Before proceeding, some basic definitions are warranted. A syndrome is a collection of abnormal signs and symptoms that commonly occur together. An epilepsy syndrome is a syndrome that has seizures as the central symptom but also includes other characteristic features, such as specific EEG findings and age dependence. Idiopathic is usually defined as “of unknown cause”. More precisely, an idiopathic disease is a “primary” or “intrinsic” disorder that cannot be attributed to any other underlying condition. For example, while other types of epilepsy may be caused by a brain tumor, stroke, or other neurological disorder, idiopathic epilepsy syndromes are primary brain disorders that have no other identifiable causes. In fact, most idiopathic epilepsy syndromes are presumed to be due to a genetic cause, but in most cases the specific genetic defect is not known and a family history of epilepsy may not be present.

Michael Wong, MD, PhD

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