Factors of epilepsy in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives: Epilepsy is one of the complications of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between risk factors and epileptic seizures in NF1 patients. Materials & Methods: We retrospectively studied 105 Turkish children with NF1 in this study. Results: We found 15 (14.3%) patients epilepsy patients in our study. The mean age at onset of seizures was 7.33± 4.33 years (range 1 to 15 years). The most common seizure type was partial onset seizures. In the epilepsy patients, unidentified bright objects (UBOs) were present in seven patients, brain tumors in four patients, mesial temporal sclerosis in one patient, hydrocephalus in one patient, and cortical dysplasia in one patient. One patient had normal neuroimaging findings. There was no correlation between epilepsy and age, sex, consanguinity, family history of NF1, family history of epilepsy, neurologic deficits, presence of UBOs, location of UBOs, and presence of optic pathway glioma. We found that intellectual disability, and brain tumors were a significant risk factors for epilepsy development. Conclusions: The occurrence of epileptic seizures in NF1 patients is related to intellectual disability and brain tumors.