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Differential rates of age of seizure onset between sexes and between hemispheres?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

ESTHER STRAUSS ,
MICHAEL HUNTER ,
BRUCE P. HERMANN ,
DAVID W. LORING ,
MAX R. TRENERRY ,
WILLIAM B. BARR ,
GORDON J. CHELUNE ,
KENNETH PERRINE ,
MICHAEL WESTERVELD  and
JUHN WADA
ESTHER STRAUSS
Affiliation:
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
MICHAEL HUNTER
Affiliation:
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
BRUCE P. HERMANN
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DAVID W. LORING
Affiliation:
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia
MAX R. TRENERRY
Affiliation:
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
WILLIAM B. BARR
Affiliation:
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Glen Oaks, New York
GORDON J. CHELUNE
Affiliation:
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
KENNETH PERRINE
Affiliation:
New York University, New York, New York
MICHAEL WESTERVELD
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
JUHN WADA
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Abstract

In a descriptive analysis of 158 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, Taylor (1969) reported that the age of first seizure varied systematically as a function of laterality and sex. We conducted inferential analyses of Taylor's original data which (1) provided support for his proposal of disproportionate left hemisphere vulnerability to seizure onset in early life, but (2) failed to provide evidence of sex differences in age of onset of unilateral seizures. Examination of these effects in a larger sample of 844 patients drawn from the Bozeman Epilepsy Consortium provided some additional support for findings from the inferential analysis. Specifically, the left hemisphere appeared more vulnerable to seizure onset in childhood, this increased vulnerability extending to about age 5 years. Age of onset of seizures was not different when males and females were compared. Thus, reanalysis of Taylor's original data as well as examination of data from a larger, more contemporary sample suggest that seizure onset varies as a function of laterality, but not sex. (JINS, 1997, 3, 428–434.)

Keywords

LateralitySexAge of seizure onsetEpilepsy
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 3 , Issue 5 , September 1997 , pp. 428 - 434
Copyright
© 1997 The International Neuropsychological Society

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