association of family history of epilepsy with earlier age onset of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

how to cite this article: najafi mr, najafi ma, safaei a. association of family history of epilepsy with earlier age onset of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. iran j child neurol. spring 2016; 10(2):10-15. abstract objective juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (jme) is supposedly the most frequent subtype of idiopathic generalized epilepsies (ige). the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of jme and comparison of patients’ demographics as well as timeline of the disease between positive family history epileptic patients (pfhe) and negative family history epileptic patients (nfhe) among sample of iranian epileptic patients. materials & methods from feb. 2006 to oct. 2009, 1915 definite epileptic patients (873 females) referred to epilepsy clinics in isfahan, central iran, were surveyed and among them, 194 jme patients were diagnosed. jme was diagnosed by its specific clinical and eeg criteria. patients were divided into two groups as pfhe and nfhe and data were compared between them. results jme was responsible for 10% (194 patients) of all types of epilepsies. of jme patients, 53% were female. in terms of family history of epilepsy, 40% were positive. no significant differences was found between pfhe and nfhe groups as for gender (p>0.05). age of epilepsy onset was significantly earlier in pfhe patients (15 vs. 22 yr, p<0.001). occurrence of jme before 18 yr old among pfhe patients was significantly higher (or=2.356, p=0.007). conclusion a family history of epilepsy might be associated with an earlier age of onset in patients with jme.   references 1. banerjee pn, filippi d, allen hauser w. the descriptive epidemiology of epilepsy—a review. epilepsy res 2009;85(1):31-45. 2. khedr em, shawky oa, ahmed ma, elfetoh na, al attar g, ali am, et al. a community based epidemiological study of epilepsy in assiut governorate/egypt. epilepsy res 2013;103(2):294-302. 3. rektor i, schachter sc, arzy s, baloyannis sj, bazil c, brázdil m, et al. epilepsy, behavior, and art (epilepsy, brain, and mind, part 1). epilepsy behav 2013;28(2):261-82. 4. steinlein ok. genetics and epilepsy. dialogues clin neurosci 2008;10(1):29-38. 5. engel jr j. ilae classification of epilepsy syndromes. epilepsy res 2006;70:5-10. 6. janz d. epilepsy with impulsive petit mal (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy). acta neurol scandinavica 1985;72(5):449-59. 7. alfradique i, vasconcelos mm. juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria 2007;65(4b):1266-71. 8. vijai j, cherian p, sylaja p, anand a, radhakrishnan k. clinical characteristics of a south indian cohort of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy probands. seizure 2003;12(7):490-6. 9. babtain fa. impact of a family history of epilepsy on the diagnosis of epilepsy in southern saudi arabia. seizure 2013;22(7):542-7. 10. montenegro ma, guerreiro mm, lopes-cendes i, guerreiro ca, li lm, cendes f, editors. association of family history of epilepsy with earlier age at seizure onset in patients with focal cortical dysplasia. mayo clinic proceedings 2002;77(12): 1291–94. 11. berg at, berkovic sf, brodie mj, buchhalter j, cross jh, van emde boas w, et al. revised terminology and concepts for organization of seizures and epilepsies: report of the ilae commission on classification and terminology, 2005–2009. epilepsia 2010;51(4):676-85. 12. janz d. juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. epilepsy with impulsive petit mal. cleveland clin j med 1989;56 suppl pt 1:s23-33; 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