CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGE AS RISK FACTOR FOR IDIOPATHIC GENERALIZED EPILEPSY (IGE)

Abstract Objective: To determine the significance of parental consanguinity as a risk factor for idiopathic generalized epilepsies. Study Design: Case control study. Place and Duration of Study: Outdoor Section of Pediatric Neurology department, The Children Hospital Lahore, from Jan to Dec 2015. Methodology: A total of 402 patients were included in the study with case to control ratio of 1:1. The 201 cases suffering from idiopathic generalized epilepsy were taken from Pediatric Neurology outdoor and 201 non epileptic patients were taken from general outdoor of The Children Hospital Lahore. All the information was taken on predesigned Profoma. Results: The percentage of parental consanguinity in case group was 74.1% as compared to 54.7% in control group. Family history of epilepsy among cases was high (24%) as compared to control (10%). The most common type of epilepsy was generalized tonic clonic (GTC) 90.5% with mean age of onset of 5.2 years. The calculated Odd ratio for family history of epilepsy was 2.7 (OR=2.7, CI= 95%, p<0.001) and for parental consanguinity was 3.2 (OR=3.2, CI=95%, p<0.001). Conclusion: Parental consanguinity was strongly associated with risk of developing idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Family history of epilepsy was another risk factor for the development of epilepsy. The result of this study supports the impact of genetic markers on the transmission of IGEs.