doi:10.1155/2012/205131 Research Article Epileptic Encephalopathies in Adults and Childhood

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Epileptic encephalopathies are motor-mental retardations or cognitive disorders secondary to epileptic seizures or epileptiform activities. Encephalopaties due to brain damage, medications, or systemic diseases are generally not in the scope of this definition, but they may rarely accompany the condition. Appropriate differential diagnosis of epileptic seizures as well as subclinical electroencephalographic discharges are crucial for management of seizures and epileptiform discharges and relative regression of cognitive deterioration in long-term followup. Proper antiepileptic drug, hormonal treatment, or i.v. immunoglobulin choice playmajor role in prognosis. In this paper, we evaluated the current treatment approaches by reviewing clinical electrophysiological characteristics of epileptic encephalopathies. 1