It is difficult to give a country report from Malaysia. A study done in 1999 reported the incidence of West Syndrome to be 3% among newly diagnosed cases of epilepsy. In this 3 year retrospective hospital-based study (1997-1999), the prevalence of early epileptic encephalopathy (EEE) and West Syndrome were 4.1 and 2.5% respectively. There is difficulty classifying EEE cases into distinct sub-groups of EIEE (early infantile epileptic encephalopathy), WS (West Syndrome) and SMEI (severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy), using a combination of clinical features, EEG and CT/MRI findings.
This is a report on 11 cases of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) from the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, all of whom were diagnosed in the last one and a half years. This genetic syndrome is seen in all the three main racial groups: Chinese, Malays and Indians. It accounts for 2% of the epilepsy patients seen at the neurology clinic. Lack of awareness is the main hindrance to diagnosis.
Study site: Neurology clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia