Congenital conditions
Congenital conditions are those that are present at birth. These could be caused by a genetic mutation, an infection, or another environmental agent. Common congenital conditions associated with epilepsy include:
Patients with Down syndrome may experience the onset of epilepsy in the first or second year of life, or in late adulthood. The associated abnormalities in brain development may provide an explanation. In addition, cardiac arrhythmias and the progressive deterioration of brain function may be additional causes of epilepsy in these patients.
Neurofibromatosis is an additional genetic disorder that leads to tumorigenesis in nerve tissue. Approximately 4-7% of these patients tend to develop epilepsy. However, the underlying connection is still debatable, as the nerve tumour does not appear to have an epileptic origin.
