Abstracts

Rationale: To our knowledge, despite all the advances in the treatment of epilepsy, a follow-up study to evaluate the trend of success or failure in epilepsy treatment and the reason for such a success or failure is lacking. Methods: The incident cohort of epilepsy patients diagnosed in Tampere University Hospital in 1995-2005 (N=571; age at onset: 9-87) was used. Cox proportional hazard model and Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed. Results: The time needed to achieve seizure-freedom in 70% of patients diagnosed in 1995-98 was 10 years, whereas it took 6 years for diagnosis in 1991-2001 and only 4 years in those diagnosed most recently (2002-05; Fig. 1). The time to seizure freedom significantly decreased by 10% every year from 1995 to 2005 (age-adjusted hazard ratio 1.10, 95% CI 1.05-1.15). The proportion of seizure free patients at 3 years after diagnosis was 39% for patients diagnosed in 1995-98, 42% for 1999-2001, and 52% for 2002-05. Five years after diagnosis, only 45% of patients diagnosed in 1995-98 were seizure free, whereas it was substantially higher for more recently diagnosed patients (56% of those diagnosed in 1999-2001 and 60% of those diagnosed in 2002-05). There was an increasing incidence of annual seizure freedom by year of diagnosis (13% for diagnosis in 1995-98, 18% for 1999-2001, and 26% for 2002-05). Conclusions: Our novel approach showed that recently diagnosed patients with epilepsy achieve seizure freedom substantially earlier. Ascertaining reasons for such a success by syndrome diagnosis is of high importance and clinical interest.