About Epilepsy sub   Epileptic syndromes can be either
idiopathic (of unknown cause) or symptomatic of underlying brain
damage or disease. In general, idiopathic forms have a better
prognosis in terms of both seizure control and eventual
remission than do symptomatic forms. Epileptic syndromes include
seizure syndromes in newborns; hypothalamic hamartomas; febrile
convulsions; West syndrome (infantile spasms); Lennox-Gastaut
syndrome; childhood absence epilepsy; juvenile myoclonic
epilepsy; Benign Rolandic epilepsy; Landau-Kleffner syndrome;
Rasmussen's encephalitis (syndrome); progressive myoclonic
epilepsy; temporal lobe epilepsy, and frontal lobe epilepsy.
Types of epilepsy that appear in infancy range from benign to
severe, although persistent epilepsy that begins during the
first year of life tends to remain severe, sometimes throughout
life. Some authorities would not include febrile (fever-
generated) seizures in this list. Many consider them to be non-
epileptic seizures because they cease to be a probl