Objectives:

This study was designed to determine seizure and epilepsy types of outpatients according to the systems proposed by the ILAE and to aşeş the clinical applicability of these systems.

Patients and Methods:

This retrospective review included a total of 4,851 patients who presented to the epilepsy outpatient clinics of Bakırköy State Hospital for Mental and Neurological Diseases between 1991 and 1997. Findings from history, neurological examination, laboratory investigations, EEG, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging studies showed epileptic seizures in 3,445 patients (1912 males, 1533 females; mean age 29.2 years; range 6 months to 93 years). The types of seizures and of epilepsies and epileptic syndromes were claşified according to the ICES 1981 and ICE 1989 recommendations, respectively.

Results:

Pediatric patients at ages 14 years or below accounted for 8.2% (n=281). A total of 1,371 patients (39.8%) were excluded because of insufficient information or diagnoses other than epileptic seizures. Using the ILAE systems, 91.2% of the seizures could be claşified, being partial in 70.6% and 69.8% and generalized in 20.8% and 16.5% according to the ICES 1981 and ICE 1989 recommendations, respectively.

Conclusion:

The ILAE systems proved highly helpful to claşify epileptic seizures, epilepsies and epileptic syndromes.

Keywords: Electroencephalography, epilepsy/diagnosis/claşification/epidemiology, seizures/diagnosis/claşification/epidemiology, terminology