A Summary of Every Epilepsy Syndrome

In my experience, most people discuss epilepsy as a broad concept. And specific types of epilepsy aren’t really explored in most online articles. For instance; epilepsy syndromes, which are epileptic disorders that are defined by a characteristic group of features that typically occur together, aren’t widely known.

Today I want to do my part to change that, and talk about all the different epilepsy syndromes that we know to exist as of today. Of course there is a high chance that more epilepsy syndromes will be discovered in time, as more research is done.

I’ll only be giving a brief summary of each syndrome, but I’ll do my best to do them justice. I’ll be covering the types of seizures usually seen within the syndromes, the cause of the syndrome, the age of onset, common issues seen with it, treatment options for the syndrome, and the outlook for people diagnosed with it.

Childhood Absence Epilepsy -

Type of Seizures Seen - Absence seizures

Cause - Usually genetic

Age of Onset - Normally between 4 and 8 years old.

Common Issues - Attention, concentration, and memory issues.

Treatment - Medication, and possibly a ketogenic diet.

Outlook - Most kids will respond to the medication and are able to wean off the meds around adolescence. In rarer cases, kids will develop other types of seizures in adolescence.

Childhood Epilepsy Centrotemporal Spikes (Benign Rolandic Epilepsy) -

Type of Seizures Seen - Seizures that cause twitching, tingling, or numbness on one side of the face or tongue; tonic clonic seizures.

Cause - Unknown

Age of Onset - Ranges from 3 to 13 years old, but typically begins between 6 to 8 years of age.

Common Issues - Aside from seizures, not many additional problems are noted.

Treatment - If any treatment is prescribed then it will be one of the common forms of anti seizure medication, but due to the infrequent nature of the symptoms sometimes no treatment is needed.

Outlook - Almost all children suffering from this syndrome will go into remission by age 15 and be developmentally normal.

Dravet Syndrome -

Type of Seizures Seen - Myoclonic, Tonic Clonic, Atypical Absence, Atonic, Focal Aware, Tonic, and Non-Convulsive Status Epilepticus Seizures

Cause - Genetic

Age of Onset - One year old or younger.

Common Issues - A slowing of development milestones after age two, low motor tone, unsteady walking that may transform into a crouched gait, growth and nutritional issues, and problems with the autonomic nervous system.

Treatment - Anti seizure medications, rescue medications, ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation; and physical, occupational, speech, and social therapies.

Outlook - Seizure freedom won’t be achieved in most cases, and SUDEP is a big risk.

Early Myoclonic Encephalopathy (EME) -

Type of Seizures Seen - Mostly myoclonic seizure; but also focal motor and tonic seizures; as well as tonic spasms in some cases.

Cause - Metabolic disorders, certain gene mutations, brain malformations in a small amount of cases, and sometimes the cause remains unknown.

Age of Onset - Typically diagnosed before 3 months of age, but the first seizure could range from happening while the affected child is still in the womb to about 10 days after birth.

Common Issues - Severe developmental problems as the baby ages.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication, dietary therapy, vagus nerve stimulator device, surgery, and treatment for potential metabolic problems.

Outlook - Many children with EME will go on to have LGS or West Syndrome, they will commonly be left with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, and death within the first year of life is seen often. 

Epilepsy with Eyelid Myoclonia (Jeavons Syndrome) -

Type of Seizures Seen - The most commonly seen seizure type is eyelid myoclonia; but absence, generalized tonic clonic, and myoclonic seizures may also be noticed.

Cause - Unknown

Age of Onset - Sometime during childhood, usually between 6 and 8 years of age.

Common Issues - Some potential learning problems, but some people only suffer from the seizures themselves.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication, ketogenic diet, and Zeiss blue lenses.

Outlook - This syndrome is lifelong, regardless of treatment. And seizure control, particularly the eyelid myoclonia, is hard to achieve.

Epilepsy of Infancy with Migrating Focal Seizures -

Type of Seizures Seen - Focal tonic and focal clonic seizures, as well as status epilepticus.

Cause - Genetic, congenital disorders of glycosylation, but most commonly reasons behind the diagnosis are unknown.

Age of Onset - Typically seen before 6 months of age, and most commonly seen around the 3 month old mark.

Common Issues - Regression and severe developmental difficulties.

Treatment - This type of epilepsy is usually drug resistant but some anti seizure medications may be prescribed along with rescue medications, the ketogenic diet and vagus nerve stimulation are other potential options. 

Outlook - Seizure control is rarely obtained, severe developmental handicaps, gut dysmotility, movement disorders, and sometimes childhood death.

Epilepsy Myoclonic Absences -

Types of Seizures Seen - The most frequently seen type of seizure in this syndrome is myoclonic-absence seizures; but most children with this syndrome will also suffer from tonic clonic, clonic, absence, and atonic seizures.

Cause - Unknown

Age of Onset - Between 2 and 12 years old, but mostly around the age of 7.

Common Issues - Learning disabilities are common.

Treatment - Certain anti seizure medications or a mixture of anti seizure medications, but typically the seizures present in this syndrome don’t respond well to medication.

Outlook - More than half of the children diagnosed with this syndrome will have their seizures persist into adulthood, others might develop LGS, but some patients might have their seizures recede after 5 or 6 years.

Epileptic Encephalopathy Continuous Spike and Wave During Sleep (CSWS) -

Types of Seizures Seen - Mostly focal motor seizures or bilateral seizures; but other seizures types seen within the syndrome are absence, atypical absence, and atonic seizures.

Cause - Unknown; but is often linked in individual cases to things like brain malformations, genetic variants, and metabolic conditions.

Age of Onset - This syndrome can start between the ages of 2 to 12 years old, but most commonly starts when the child is 4 or 5 years old.

Common Issues - A slow cognitive decline over time, as well as some potential behavioral issues.

Treatment - Anti seizure and other types of medication, sometimes surgery may be suggested depending on the case.

Outlook - Some children’s seizures might begin to subside during the teenage years, if this happens then their cognitive abilities might begin to improve but they will usually be left with some kind of impairment; otherwise the seizures might continue into the adult years.

Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome (FIRES) -

Types of Seizures Seen - Focal seizures at first, but will later develop into status epilepticus.

Cause - Unknown but thought to be related to excessive inflammation that is caused by an infection.

Age of Onset - The range for this syndrome is quite large, toddlers and young adults alike could develop this condition. But the average age is about 8 years old.

Common Issues - No issues aside from the danger presented by status epilepticus.

Treatment - Various medications are usually tried, but with this syndrome there’s an acute time frame during which no treatment helps. The ketogenic diet has seen some success in treating this treatment.

Outlook - The sad truth is that 1 in 10 kids will die due to complications from FIRES, surviving children will typically show some sort of cognitive delay and have chronic epilepsy after the acute stage has ended.

Infantile Spasms (West Syndrome) -

Types of Seizures Seen - The seizures seen in babies with West Syndrome are literally called infantile spasms and usually consist of some sort of sudden stiffening, either subtle or obvious.

Cause - There can be a variety of causes for this syndrome; including structural changes in the brain, genetic causes, and metabolic issues. Sometimes the cause remains unknown in specific cases.

Age of Onset - This syndrome can develop anytime during the first year of a child’s life, but it typically happens between the 3 to 8 month mark.

Common Issues - Some babies will have no symptoms aside from the seizures. Others might lose interest in their surroundings and begin to socially interact less; they may also lose some infant skills such as sitting, rolling over, and babbling.

Treatment - Some sort of anti seizures medication and/or steroid therapy. Alternative treatments might be the ketogenic diet, or surgery in some cases.

Outlook - The infantile spasms will eventually stop but many children will develop other types of epilepsy syndromes afterwards, they will typically also have intellectual disabilities, and some might even develop autism later in life.

Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy -

Types of Seizures Seen - Myoclonic seizures are seen often; other seizures might include status epilepticus, generalized tonic clonic seizures, and absence seizures.

Cause - This syndrome is genetically determined.

Age of Onset - This syndrome can begin anytime during childhood or adolescence but it’s usually between the ages of 12 and 18 years old.

Common Issues - None aside from the seizures themselves.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication along with potential lifestyle changes and avoidance of seizure triggers.

Outlook - Typically people with this syndrome will be able to achieve seizure control with the proper treatment.

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome -

Types of Seizures Seen - Seizures aren’t the largest part of this disorder, and 1 in 4 kids with it won’t have any at all. When seizures are presenting then it will be mostly focal motor seizures that may turn into tonic clonic seizures. Atypical absence and atonic seizures have also been noted.

Cause -  Unknown

Age of Onset - This syndrome is typically first noted in kids between 2 and 8 years old, but most commonly develops within the range of 5 to 7 years old.

Common Issues - The hallmark trait of this syndrome is the loss of understanding spoken language that the child will experience, it may happen suddenly or slowly. In some cases children might not be able to speak or understand what others are saying. They’ll also likely experience attention deficit problems that might come along with hyperactivity, anxiety, and aggression.

Treatment - If the child is having seizures then medication will be prescribed, typically a mixture of several types. In some cases, epilepsy surgery may be recommended. And to treat the other aspects of this syndrome the child will need to start seeing a speech therapist; as well as potentially a child psychologist, neuropsychologist, and/or psychiatrist.

Outlook - In most cases the seizures associated with this syndrome will go away by age 10, but children are often left with language disabilities which can be severe depending on how successful early treatment was. Relapses are also something to keep an eye on when it comes to this syndrome.

Lennox Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) -

Types of Seizures Seen - The most frequently seen seizure types are tonic and atonic seizures; but atypical absence, myoclonic, and generalized tonic clonic seizures are also commonly seen within LGS.

Cause - In 3 out of 4 cases the cause behind LGS will be found; LGS is commonly caused by congenital brain malformations, acquired brain injury, genetic disorders, or metabolic disorders.

Age of Onset - LGS will normally start to develop between the ages of 2 and 5, and a child beginning to develop LGS after age 10 is rare.

Common Issues - Delayed intellectual development and behavioral issues are common with LGS; examples of behavioral issues might be hyperactivity, agitation, and aggression. Autism is also noted in many cases.

Treatment - Treatment for this syndrome is complex and might include medication, dietary therapy, surgery, rescue medication, and help from a social worker that can provide the family with the non-medical help they’ll need if they have a child with LGS.

Outlook - The outlook is far from ideal; seizure control is hard to reach since seizures caused by LGS don’t respond well to medicine, and cognitive/behavioral problems are a very real issue.

Myoclonic Epilepsy in Infancy -

Types of Seizures Seen - Myoclonic seizures

Cause - This syndrome seems to be caused by something genetic.

Age of Onset - The range is normally from 6 months to 2 years old, but there’s been occasional cases reported that began when the child was anywhere from 4 months to 5 years old.

Common Issues - Depending on seizure control there could be symptoms such as learning, motor, and behavioral problems.

Treatment - Some sort of anti seizure medication, normally valproic acid.

Outlook - The seizures will typically stop on their own within a maximum of 5 years, but sometimes during adolescence they might return.

Ohtahara Syndrome -

Types of Seizures Seen - Tonic seizures are common for people with this syndrome to have; but focal, atonic, myoclonic, or generalized tonic clonic seizures can also occur. And in some cases, infantile spasms can develop as well.

Cause - Typically this syndrome is caused by brain malformations or gene mutations, but metabolic causes are also possible. In a few cases, no cause has been found.

Age of Onset - This syndrome shows up in babies under 3 months old.

Common Issues - In many cases the child will show severe developmental issues and abnormalities will be noted during neurologically exams even before seizures are first seen. And as seizures increase there will typically be a worsening of cognitive and motor problems.

Treatment - This syndrome’s seizures tend to be drug resistant but anti seizure medications will be tried just in case, surgery may be considered, and the ketogenic diet might be tested out as well. Vagus nerve stimulators are also part of the treatment plan for many children once they reach a certain age. Additionally, if a metabolic disorder is behind the syndrome then it may be treated to gain some seizure control.

Outlook - If a child survives this syndrome then they are usually left with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, and may also develop infantile spasms or LGS. But many babies with this syndrome die before they’re 2 years old. 

Panayiotopoulos Syndrome -

Types of Seizures Seen - Most of the seizures that occur because of this syndrome are focal seizures that progress into generalized seizures. But seizures caused by this syndrome tend to be longer than the average, usually between 1 to 30 minutes. But it’s fairly common for them to last up to 2 hours, at which point they might turn into generalized tonic clonic movements.

Cause - This syndrome is thought to be linked to genetic causes, but no specific genes have been fully determined to cause it.

Age of Onset - This syndrome has developed in children ranging from 1 to 13 years old, but it most commonly tends to develop in kids between 3 to 6 years old.

Common Issues - The seizures are typically the only symptom of this syndrome, and development of the child remains normal in most cases.

Treatment - Because of the infrequent nature of the seizures caused by this syndrome, sometimes anti seizure medication isn’t even prescribed. But if the seizures happen frequently then anti seizure medication can usually help to gain seizure control. Rescue medication might be needed for longer seizures.

Outlook - Children with this syndrome will normally have very few seizures over the course of suffering from it, and after a few years the seizures will completely subside in most cases.

Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsies -

Special Note - Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsies (PME) is the name given to a group of more than 10 rare epilepsy types that are considered to be “progressive”. The three most commonly seen types within the group are Unverricht-Lundborg Disease, Lafora Disease, and Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses.

Types of Seizures Seen - Myoclonic and generalized tonic clonic seizures are seen most often in PME but vocal, tonic, and absence seizures are noted in some of the progressive myoclonic epilepsies.

Cause - Genetic

Age of Onset - All the types of PME usually start occurring in people between the ages of 6 to 16 years old.

Common Issues - Memory and other cognitive abilities start to decline over time but motor issues are a real problem as well; some motor issues associated with various PME types are ataxia and apraxia which can eventually lead to the person not being able to complete basic tasks such as walking or feeding themselves.

Treatment - There is no cure for PME and it will continue to get worse over time, so the only real “treatment” is social and psychological support for the patient and their family.

Outlook - Because there isn’t a treatment that works the outlook for those with PME isn’t good, their motor and cognitive abilities will usually continue to decline until they lose most basic abilities.

Reflex Epilepsies -

Special Note - The term “reflex epilepsies” once again refers to a group of epilepsy syndromes, but this time the common denominator is the fact the seizures are in response to a trigger or stimulus. Examples are photosensitivity, in which seizures are triggered by certain light patterns; or musicogenic epilepsy, in which seizures can be triggered by music.

Types of Seizures Seen - A large portion of seizures caused by reflex epilepsies are generalized tonic clonic seizures; but absence, myoclonic, and focal seizures are sometimes seen as well.

Cause - The cause depends on which type of reflex epilepsy it is.

Age of Onset - Again, it depends on which type of reflex epilepsy it is, but many reflex epilepsies can begin at any age.

Common Issues - No issues aside from the seizures themselves.

Treatment - Treatment typically consists of a mixture of anti seizure medication and an avoidance of known triggers.

Outlook - Some people might outgrow the seizures caused by reflex epilepsies but even if they don’t, most cases of reflex epilepsies are completely manageable with the right medication.

Self Limited Familial (Formerly - Non Familial Neonatal Infantile Seizures) -

Types of Seizures Seen - The seizures caused by this syndrome present themselves as jerking on one side of the face or body that might spread to affect both sides of the body, sometimes these seizures will cluster together.

Cause - Gene mutations

Age of Onset - This syndrome can start to present itself in children as young as 2 days old but babies up to 7 months old have had it develop.

Common Issues - Typically development of the child will remain normal, with no side effects other than the seizures.

Treatment - Anti seizure medications, and potentially sodium-channel blocking medications depending on the gene mutation that caused the syndromes.

Outlook - Within 1 to 2 years after onset the seizures should subside, but if they don’t then seizures may last until early childhood.

Epilepsy Generalized Tonic Clonic Seizures Alone - 

Types of Seizures Seen - Tonic clonic seizures

Cause - Some genetic mutations have been linked to this syndrome but the cause remains under speculation in most cases.

Age of Onset - This syndrome has a wide range of possible ages in which it can first start to develop, technically it can begin to show up in people from ages 5 to 40 years old. But in most people the range is smaller, from about 11 to 23 years old.

Common Issues - No real issues aside from the tonic clonic seizures and subsequent side effects.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication typically does very well in treating the tonic clonic seizures that come along with this syndrome, but at times rescue medication might be needed as well. And avoidance of common seizure triggers is also part of most treatment plans.

Outlook - The syndrome will likely persist throughout the affected person’s life, but medication can control it in many cases. But some people will have a harder time gaining seizure control than others.

Genetic Epilepsy with Febrile Seizures Plus -

Special Note - Within the GEFS+ spectrum, Dravet syndrome or myoclonic atonic epilepsy are possible. But we’ll focus on the basic type of GEFS+ here.

Types of Seizures Seen - Generalized tonic clonic seizures are most common; but absence, myoclonic, atonic, myoclonic-atonic, and focal seizures are also possible. In most cases these seizures are brought on by a fever which makes them febrile seizures.

Cause - An inherited gene

Age of Onset - This syndrome will typically begin to show up in individuals between the ages of 3 months and 6 years.

Common Issues - If the person doesn’t have Dravet syndrome or myoclonic atonic epilepsy then no other issues should be present aside from seizures.

Treatment - Because most seizures in this syndrome are caused by a fever, not all people will need daily medications so treatment varies from case to case. But in general, rescue medications will be prescribed for when febrile seizures do occur. And daily medication can be added to the treatment plan if necessary.

Outlook - The outlook for people with this syndrome is good (aside from those with the syndromes we mentioned earlier) because their seizures will likely taper off and development remains normal.

Juvenile Absence Epilepsy -

Types of Seizures Seen - Absence seizures will be present in every case of this syndrome, and in most cases generalized tonic clonic seizures will also be present.

Cause - Genetic in most cases

Age of Onset - In most cases this syndrome will start between the ages of 10 to 16 years old, but rarely it might start to present later than that.

Common Issues - Attention, concentration, and memory problems may occur but usually go away with the proper treatment. In some cases attention related issues may persist.

Treatment - This syndrome typically responds well to anti seizure medication; but in the rare cases that it doesn’t, the ketogenic diet might be suggested.

Outlook - JAE will last a lifetime but since it responds well to treatment in most cases, the affected person can typically gain seizure control.

Myoclonic Atonic Epilepsy (Doose Syndrome) -

Types of Seizures Seen - Atonic and myoclonic atonic seizures will occur in everyone with this syndrome; additional seizure types that may be seen are generalized tonic clonic, absence, myoclonic, and tonic seizures. Status epilepticus is also possible.

Cause - Genetics

Age of Onset - The first seizure caused by this syndrome will typically occur somewhere between the ages of 2 to 6 years old.

Common Issues - Some intellectual disabilities are fairly common with this syndrome.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication can be used, but typically this syndrome’s seizures don’t respond well to medication. Rescue medication is needed in a lot of cases as well. And the ketogenic diet seems particularly successful in treating this syndrome.

Outlook - About two-thirds of kids will have their seizures subside as they age, but one-third will have persisting seizures. Developmentally, it really depends on the case; some kids won’t have any lingering intellectual difficulties after seizures subside but in some cases those difficulties may persist regardless of whether or not the child is continuing to have seizures.

Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy (DEE) -

Special Note - DEE refers to a group of severe epilepsy syndromes that produce drug resistant seizures as well as severe developmental issues.

Types of Seizures Seen - Epileptic spasms, tonic or atonic, and myoclonic seizures are commonly seen.

Cause - The cause depends on the type of syndrome within the group that it is.

Age of Onset - Typically DEE will begin sometime in infancy.

Common Issues - Encephalopathy, which is the term used to describe a decay in development and even a loss of certain developmental skills, is always present in DEE.

Treatment - The treatment will depend on the specific case.

Outlook - Not many DEE sufferers will ever gain seizure control; and even if they can, developmental encephalopathy might still persist.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) -

Types of Seizures Seen - Focal aware seizures and focal impaired awareness seizures.

Cause - Causes vary but risk factors are brain injury, changes in the structure of the temporal lobe, or febrile seizures.

Age of Onset - This syndrome can begin at any age, but is typically seen around 10 or 20 years old.

Common Issues - With this syndrome there can be a high risk for memory and mood problems, plus an increased risk of SUDEP if the seizures are drug resistant.

Treatment - Anti seizure drugs will be an effective treatment in most cases but if it’s not then surgery, devices, and even dietary therapies might be other options.

Outlook - In a lot of cases seizure control can be obtained and sometimes seizures will subside after a while. But specifically in cases where the patient has an abnormal MRI, the issues mentioned above and drug resistant seizures might be more likely.

Sleep-related Hypermotor Epilepsy (SHE) -

Types of Seizures Seen - Brief hypermotor seizures that occur during sleep.

Cause - This syndrome is usually inherited, but other causes are possible as well.

Age of Onset - Cases have been reported in people ranging from 1 to 60 years old, but most people notice symptoms before 20 years old. And the most common age of onset is 9 years old.

Common Issues - A worsening of thinking and memory is sometimes seen after onset of this syndrome but not in every case. Some cases of mood disorders, behavioral problems, and intellectual abilities have been reported as well.

Treatment - Anti seizure medication is typically effective but if it’s not, then other treatment plans can be discussed.

Outlook - The outlook is bright for most people, as the seizures typically respond to medicine. And sometimes the seizures become milder as the person ages.

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I hope this list full of summaries has been helpful to you, and if I missed one then feel free to let me know in the comments and I’ll add it as soon as possible! If you have personal experience with any of these syndromes then I’d love to hear from you as well, all comments are welcome!

I want to go further in depth into each of these syndromes in the future, but for now I felt like a list of the names and summaries could spread some awareness and I hope it has. Thank you for reading!