Prevalence of epilepsy and seizure disorders as causes of apparent life- threatening event (ALTE) in children admitted to a tertiary hospital.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and describe clinical characteristics of seizure disorders and epilepsy as causes of apparent life- threatening event (ALTE) in children admitted at the emergency and followed in a tertiary hospital. METHOD Cross-sectional study with prospective data collection using specific guidelines to determine the etiology of ALTE. RESULTS During the study, 30 (4.2%) children admitted to the hospital had a diagnosis of ALTE. There was a predominance of males (73%) and term infants (70%). Neonatal neurological disorders and neuropsychomotor development delay were found respectively in 13.4% and 10% of the cases. Etiological investigation revealed that 50% of the cases were idiopathic, and 13.4% were caused by epilepsy or seizure disorders. Although all patients had recurrent ALTE events, epilepsy had not been previously suspected. CONCLUSION Epilepsy should be included in the differential diagnosis of ALTE, particularly when events are recurrent.