How long will the needs last?
Epilepsy Duration Guidance
This guidance covers:-
- Generalised seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Generalised seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Partial seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Partial seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Seizures – unclassified
- Non epileptic Attack disorder (pseudoseizures)
| Age at date of claim | Onset less than 2 years | Onset more than 2 years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 15 | Award for 1 year | Award for 5 years |
Note: In cases of epilepsy resulting from underlying brain damage / trauma or long-standing (i.e. of 5 or more years duration) poorly controlled epilepsy, needs are unlikely to reduce despite medication and an indefinite award is recommended.
| Age at date of claim | Episode of Status Epilepticus |
|---|---|
| 1 - 15 | Award for 1 year |
Background
Epilepsy is a condition in which a person has recurrent seizures. Despite there being several different types of seizures, once treatment has been instituted for any type of seizure, the majority of children with epilepsy will improve significantly within 2 years. For those who continue with poorly controlled seizures, further treatment may also bring about seizure control, although this may be more difficult in this group.
A significant proportion of those claiming within the first 2 years of being diagnosed with epilepsy will improve after 1 year therefore a renewal at this stage is appropriate. The longer the duration of poorly controlled epilepsy, the less likely that it will be controlled. Therefore in claims from those who have had epilepsy for longer than 2 years, a renewal after 5 years is appropriate in the first instance, but after this, no further change is likely.
For many children with epilepsy the outlook is very positive. Factors, which may have some bearing, are the type of epilepsy they have and whether they have any additional health problems. Some children have severe forms of epilepsy with seizures that are difficult to control, such as in West’s syndrome.
Giving a definitive prognosis after a single seizure is difficult, but some general rules do apply, based on epidemiological data.
Children who have a single, short, generalized seizure along with normal neurological development and normal findings on neurological examination have a 24% risk of having another seizure within 1 year and a 36% chance of having a second seizure within 3 years. The risks in those children with developmental problems or other neurological problems are significantly increased.
If a child has a second unprovoked seizure, the risk for further seizures is greater than 50%, even among children without other risk factors. Identifying the seizure as part of a syndrome has additional predictive value. For example, patients with benign epilepsy with Rolandic foci are likely to go into remission; however, patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy are likely to have lifelong seizure recurrence.
Life expectancy
Many children with epilepsy will have the same average life expectancy as children without epilepsy while others will have a shorter life expectancy. This can be due to an underlying cause of their epilepsy e.g. metabolic disorders, tumours etc. Additionally, life expectancy may be reduced due to accidents occurring because of seizures e.g. having a seizure in the bath or near water.
