Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders and is a major public health concern. Approximately 30 percent of people with epilepsy have medically intractable epilepsy, and the medical and social consequences of the disorder are enormous. Treatments developed for epilepsy have largely been experimental rather than based on knowledge of basic mechanisms because the mechanisms are poorly understood.

The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP) is a large-scale, international, multi-institutional, collaborative research project aimed at advancing the understanding of the genetic basis of the most common forms of epilepsy.

The overall goal of EPGP is to collect detailed, high quality phenotypic (i.e., characteristics of individuals, from the molecular level to the whole person) information on persons with epilepsy and to compare the phenotypic information with genomic information. EPGP will provide a resource that may lead to many discoveries related to the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, including the eventual development of new therapies based on a better understanding of causes of the disorder.

Inclusion criteria

• Current age from 4 weeks to 60 years.
• Clear diagnosis of epilepsy, i.e., a lifetime history of two or more unprovoked seizures.
• Age at first unprovoked seizure younger than 40 years.
• High quality clinical and laboratory data (i.e., neuroimaging, EEG) must be available throughout the patient's history
• All patients with localization-related epilepsy (LRE) or idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) must have a first-degree relative (parent, child, or sibling) with non-symptomatic (idiopathic or cryptogenic) epilepsy who is willing and available to participate.
• All patients with infantile spasms (IS), Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), or malformations of cortical development (MCD) must have both biological parents available and willing to participate.

Exclusion criteria

• Clinical and laboratory data do not allow a clear determination of whether the patient has epilepsy, or whether the diagnosis is LRE, IGE, IS, LGS, or MCD.
• Exclusively febrile seizures or other acute symptomatic seizures.
• Identified antecedent cause of epilepsy (i.e., a structural or metabolic insult to the CNS prior to the first unprovoked seizure, such as stroke, brain tumor, severe head trauma, etc., or a progressive neurodegenerative disorder).
• Recognized genetic syndrome (e.g., tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, Rett's or Angelman's syndromes) or chromosomal abnormality. (e.g., aneuploidies, unbalanced translocations, or chromosomal deletions and duplications detectable by conventional medical karyotyping).