Epilepsy Syndromes in Development. Introduction.

In the 2001 proposal of classification of epileptic syndromes, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Commission includes four “epileptic syndromes in development,” namely migrating partial seizures of infancy, myoclonic status in nonprogressive encephalopathies, generalized epilepsies with febrile seizures plus, and familial focal epilepsy with variable foci (Engel, 2001). Actually, several other epileptic conditions are still awaiting a more precise definition. Among these are the syndrome “eyelid myoclonia with or without absences (EMA),” described as a generalized epileptic syndrome more than 30 years ago by Jeavons, and Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS) evolving from an “early-onset variant of idiopathic (benign) occipital lobe epilepsy” to an “idiopathic partial epilepsy with predominantly autonomic seizures”