Diversity in epilepsy and a newly recognized benign childhood syndrome

Epilepsy affects 1 to 2% of the population in developed countries.1 Epilepsy is not a single disorder but rather a label for many heterogeneous syndromes characterized by underlying etiology, age at onset, seizure type, EEG patterns, and prognosis.2,3⇓ Accurate diagnosis of each syndrome is necessary for both evaluation and treatment. A prime example of this heterogeneity is the class of idiopathic disorders with age-related onset. One of the best known and most common of these is benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE). The recognition of this heterogeneity within the epilepsies has been formalized in the International League Against Epilepsy’s (ILAE) classification of the epilepsies.2 This system is under revision to reflect advances in our understanding of the epilepsies and to include new syndromes as they become …