Epilepsy, childhood absence, susceptibility to, 1

Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE, ECA), a subtype of idiopathic generalized epilepsy (EIG; 600669), is characterized by a sudden and brief impairment of consciousness that is accompanied by a generalized, synchronous, bilateral, 2.5- to 4-Hz spike and slow-wave discharge (SWD) on EEG. Seizure onset occurs between 3 and 8 years of age and seizures generally occur multiple times per day. About 70% of patients experience spontaneous remission of seizures, often around adolescence. There are no structural neuropathologic findings in patients with ECA (Crunelli and Leresche, 2002). Genetic Heterogeneity of Susceptibility to Childhood Absence Epilepsy The ECA1 locus has been mapped to chromosome 8q24; see also EIG1 (see 600669), which also maps to 8q24. Susceptibility to the development of childhood absence epilepsy may be conferred by variation in several genes: ECA2 (see 607681), conferred by variation in the GABRG2 gene (137164) on chromosome 5q31.1; ECA4 (611136), conferred by variation in the GABRA1 gene (137160) on chromosome 5q34; ECA5 (612269), conferred by variation in the GABRB3 gene (137192) on chromosome 15q12; and ECA6 (see 611942), conferred by variation in the CACNA1H gene (607904) on chromosome 16p13. See EIG11 (607628) for discussion of a locus previously designated ECA3 on chromosome 3q26. [from OMIM]