Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Human Genetics logoLink to American Journal of Human Genetics
. 1988 Sep;43(3):257–264.

Higher risk of seizures in offspring of mothers than of fathers with epilepsy.

R Ottman 1, J F Annegers 1, W A Hauser 1, L T Kurland 1
PMCID: PMC1715377  PMID: 3414683

Abstract

Seizure risk has consistently been found to be higher in offspring of mothers than of fathers with epilepsy. This pattern cannot be explained by any simple genetic model. The present study examined the possibility that the pattern arises from differences between affected mothers and fathers in the characteristics of their epilepsy that influence offspring seizure risk. The study population comprised 687 offspring of parents with epilepsy from the Rochester-Olmsted County Record Linkage Project. Cumulative incidences of unprovoked seizures to age 25 were 8.7% and 2.4% in offspring of affected mothers and fathers, respectively. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to calculate rate ratios (RRs) for unprovoked seizures in offspring. In the univariate analysis, risk of unprovoked seizures was higher if the affected parent was the mother (RR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval [ci] 1.1-7.2) or if the parent's onset was before age 20 (RR = 2.5, 95% ci 1.1-5.9), but there was no effect on offspring risk of either parent's etiology (idiopathic vs. remote symptomatic) or parent's seizure type (generalized vs. partial). These findings were not substantially changed in the multivariate analysis. Thus, differences between affected mothers and fathers in these characteristics did not account for the higher risk in offspring of affected mothers. Anticonvulsant use during pregnancy was not associated with increased offspring seizure risk.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Full text

PDF
257

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Annegers J. F., Hauser W. A., Elveback L. R., Anderson V. E., Kurland L. I. Congenital malformations and seizure disorders in the offspring of parents with epilepsy. Int J Epidemiol. 1978 Sep;7(3):241–247. doi: 10.1093/ije/7.3.241. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Annegers J. F., Hauser W. A., Elveback L. R., Anderson V. E., Kurland L. T. Seizure disorders in offspring of parents with a history of seizures - a maternal-paternal difference? Epilepsia. 1976 Mar;17(1):1–9. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1976.tb03375.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beaussart M., Loiseau P. Hereditary factors in a random population of 5200 epileptics. Epilepsia. 1969 Mar;10(1):55–63. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1969.tb03828.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CUTLER S. J., EDERER F. Maximum utilization of the life table method in analyzing survival. J Chronic Dis. 1958 Dec;8(6):699–712. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(58)90126-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dansky L. V., Andermann E., Andermann F. Marriage and fertility in epileptic patients. Epilepsia. 1980 Jun;21(3):261–271. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1980.tb04072.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DiMauro S., Miranda A. F., Sakoda S., Schon E. A., Servidei S., Shanske S., Zeviani M. Metabolic myopathies. Am J Med Genet. 1986 Dec;25(4):635–651. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.1320250406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Egger J., Wilson J. Mitochondrial inheritance in a mitochondrially mediated disease. N Engl J Med. 1983 Jul 21;309(3):142–146. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198307213090304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fine P. E. Analysis of family history data for evidence of non-Mendelian inheritance resulting from vertical transmission. J Med Genet. 1977 Dec;14(6):399–407. doi: 10.1136/jmg.14.6.399. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gerken H., Kiefer R., Doose H., Völzke E. Genetic factors in childhood epilepsy with focal sharp waves. I. Clinical data and familial morbidity for seizures. Neuropadiatrie. 1977 Feb;8(1):3–9. doi: 10.1055/s-0028-1091499. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. HARVALD B. On the genetic prognosis of epilepsy. Acta Psychiatr Neurol Scand. 1951;26(3-4):339–352. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1951.tb09678.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hauser W. A., Kurland L. T. The epidemiology of epilepsy in Rochester, Minnesota, 1935 through 1967. Epilepsia. 1975 Mar;16(1):1–66. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1975.tb04721.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. METRAKOS K., METRAKOS J. D. Genetics of convulsive disorders. II. Genetic and electroencephalographic studies in centrencephalic epilepsy. Neurology. 1961 Jun;11:474–483. doi: 10.1212/wnl.11.6.474. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nelson K. B., Ellenberg J. H. Maternal seizure disorder, outcome of pregnancy, and neurologic abnormalities in the children. Neurology. 1982 Nov;32(11):1247–1254. doi: 10.1212/wnl.32.11.1247. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ottman R., Hauser W. A., Susser M. Genetic and maternal influences on susceptibility to seizures. An analytic review. Am J Epidemiol. 1985 Dec;122(6):923–939. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114197. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ottman R. Simple test of the Multifactorial-Polygenic Model with sex dependent thresholds. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(2):165–170. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(87)90068-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rosing H. S., Hopkins L. C., Wallace D. C., Epstein C. M., Weidenheim K. Maternally inherited mitochondrial myopathy and myoclonic epilepsy. Ann Neurol. 1985 Mar;17(3):228–237. doi: 10.1002/ana.410170303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tsuboi T., Endo S. Incidence of seizures and EEG abnormalities among offspring of epileptic patients. Hum Genet. 1977 Apr 15;36(2):173–189. doi: 10.1007/BF00273256. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Webber M. P., Hauser W. A., Ottman R., Annegers J. F. Fertility in persons with epilepsy: 1935-1974. Epilepsia. 1986 Nov-Dec;27(6):746–752. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1986.tb03605.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Human Genetics are provided here courtesy of American Society of Human Genetics

RESOURCES