Investigation of patients with childhood epilepsy in single center: Comprehensive genetic testing experience

Introduction

Epilepsy is a common multifactorial neurological disease usually diagnosed during childhood. In this study, we present the contribution of consecutive genetic testing to the genetic diagnostic yield of childhood epilepsy.

Methods

In 100 children (53 female, 47 male) with epilepsy, targeted sequencing (TS) and clinical exome sequencing (CES) were performed. All cases (n = 100) included in the study were epilepsy patients. In addition, we investigated the genetic diagnosis rates according to the associated co-occurring findings (including developmental delay/intellectual disability, brain malformations, macro-/microcephaly, and dysmorphic features).

Results

The overall diagnostic rate in this study was 33% (n = 33 patients). We identified 11 novel variants in WDR45, ARX, PCDH19, SCN1A, CACNA1A, LGI1, ASPM, MECP2, NF1, TSC2, and CDK13. Genetic diagnosis rates were as follows: cases with developmental delay/intellectual disability 38.7% (24/62) and without developmental delay/intellectual disability 23.6% (9/38); cases with brain malformations 46.8% (15/32) and without brain malformations 25% (16/64); cases with macro-/microcephaly 50% (6/12) and without macro-/microcephaly 28.4% (25/88); and cases with dysmorphic features 48.2% (14/29) and without dysmorphic features 23.9% (17/71).

Conclusion

Genotype–phenotype correlation is even more important in diseases such as epilepsy, which include many genes and variants of these genes in etiopathogenesis. We presented the clinical findings of the cases carrying 11 novel variants in detail, including dysmorphic features, accompanying neurodevelopmental disorders, EEG results, and brain MRI results.