Clinical profile of epilepsy in western Algeria

Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases that affects people of different ages, ethnicities, and geographical locations. The objective of the present study was to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of epilepsy in west Algerian population. We enrolled 226 patients with epilepsy and collected data from medical records. We analyzed socio-demographic data, personal and family history, age at onset, seizure types, neurological and psychological findings, etiologies, syndromic classification and comorbidities. In our cohort, the mean age was 27.26 ± 17.57 years and there was no gender predominance. The mean age of seizure onset was 17.11 ± 16.27 years. Genetic epilepsy was the most observed (45.13%). Focal seizures (69.02%) were more frequent than generalized seizures which were mostly represented by absence and tonic–clonic seizures. We reported 51.45% of patients with comorbidities and 16.65% with a history of traumatic brain injury. This is the first report describing the clinical profile and the socio-demographic features in a cohort of patients with epilepsy in the western Algeria. Our results could help to offer personalized care to our patients based on the clinical particularities of their epileptic disorders.