Epilepsies of child and adolescent

Abstract

Epilepsy is a public health problem in Senegal, with a prevalence of 8.3 to 14/1000. It mainly affects children. Objective: Of this work is to study the biographical aspects, phenotypic and evolutionary of epilepsy in a cohort of children in Senegal. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective chart review of children with epilepsy followed up regularly at Fann University Hospital and Children's Hospital Albert Royer, July 2003 to December 2010. Inclusion criteria were: epilepsy aged under 16 years, regularly monitored for at least 3 years, with appropriate treatment, effective dose, with good adherence. Results: We collected 522 children, aged 3 months to 16 years, with a sex ratio of 1.7 in favor of boys. The epilepsy was idiopathic in 57% of children and non-idiopathic in 43% of patients. Etiological factors were dominated by parental consanguinity, abnormal pregnancy and childbirth, infections of the central nervous system. In the group of idiopathic epilepsies not, the signs associated with epilepsy were language disorders (15.70%), behavior (15%) and motor deficits (10.32%). 22.41% of school children had learning difficulties sometimes leading to repetition or school exclusion. Conclusion: The fight against epilepsy in Senegal implies an effective prevention policy which is necessary in improving the socio-health and the fight against infections. This is the challenge of the Senegalese league against epilepsy.