Abstract
Purpose
We compared the demographic, clinical, and electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics between females and males with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE).
Methods
In this retrospective study, all patients with a clinical diagnosis of IGE were recruited at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from 2008 through 2019. Age, gender, age at seizure onset, seizure type(s), epilepsy risk factors, and EEG findings of all patients were registered routinely.
Results
Six hundred one patients with IGE were studied: 361 patients (60%) were females, and 240 people (40%) were males. The mean age at onset of seizures was 1.3 years earlier in males compared with that in females. Myoclonic seizures were more frequently reported by females than that by males. Photoparoxysmal response during intermittent photic stimulation in the EEG laboratory was more often observed in females than that in males. The difference in the syndromic diagnosis between the sexes was significant (p = 0.02). Among male patients, 88% were on valproate, and among female patients, 49% were on valproate (p = 0.0001). At the last follow-up visit, 83 males (61%) and 108 females (49%) were seizure-free (p = 0.02).
Conclusion
There are significant demographic, clinical, and electrographic differences between females and males with IGEs. The reasons behind these sex differences among patients with IGE are not clear. However, it is likely that sex hormones and sex chromosome genes-related brain differences play a role in the development of these differences. These interesting findings and the proposed hypothesis should be explored in future studies.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Neuroscience Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, for supporting this study.
Funding
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences funded this study.
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Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, M.D.: Study design, data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation. Maryam Homayoun, M.D.: Data collection, manuscript preparation
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Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, M.D.: Honoraria from Cobel Daruo, RaymanRad, and Tekaje; Royalty: Oxford University Press (Book publication). Maryam Homayoun, M.D.
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This study was conducted with the approval by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Institutional Review Board.
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Asadi-Pooya, A.A., Homayoun, M. Sex differences in characteristics of idiopathic generalized epilepsies. Neurol Sci 42, 2421–2424 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04834-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04834-3