Epilepsy in families: Age at onset is a familial trait, independent of syndrome

Colin A Ellis; Leonid Churilov; Michael P Epstein; Sharon X Xie; Susannah T Bellows; Ruth Ottman; Samuel F Berkovic

Journal article

Epilepsy in families: Age at onset is a familial trait, independent of syndrome

Colin A Ellis, Leonid Churilov, Michael P Epstein, Sharon X Xie, Susannah T Bellows, Ruth Ottman, Samuel F Berkovic

ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY | WILEY | Published : 2019

DOI: 10.1002/ana.25499

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We tested 2 hypotheses regarding age at onset within familial epilepsies: (1) family members with epilepsy tend to have similar ages at onset, independent of epilepsy syndrome; and (2) age at onset is younger in successive generations after controlling for sampling bias. METHODS: We analyzed clinical data collected by the Epi4K Consortium (303 multiplex families, 1,120 individuals). To test hypothesis 1, we used both linear mixed models commonly used for heritability analysis and Cox regression models with frailty terms to assess clustering of onset within families after controlling for other predictors. To test hypothesis 2, we used mixed effects models, pairwise analyses, and su..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Ingrid Scheffer Author Medicine - Austin Health

Sam Berkovic Author Medicine - Austin Health

Leonid Churilov Author Medicine - Royal Melbourne Hospital

Related Projects (2)

5 OF 7 EPI4K: MULTIPLEX FAMILIES & PAIRS PROJECT

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of the Epi4K Center Without Walls Is to Increase understanding of the genetic basis of..

EPILEPSY: A 'PATIENT TO BENCH AND BACK TO PATIENT' PROGRAM ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES OF SEIZURE DISORDERS.

The team is comprised of neurologists, molecular geneticists, physiologists and brain imaging specialists and leads the world in the discove..

Grants

Awarded by NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Awarded by NIH

Awarded by NIH NINDS Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award institutional research training grant

Funding Acknowledgements

The Epi4K family study was supported by an NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grant (ID: U01NS077367). S.F.B. was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council program grant (628952). R.O. was supported by NIH grants R01 NS078419 (NINDS) and P50 HG007257 (NHGRI). M.P.E. was supported by NIH grant R01 GM117946 (NIGMS-National Institute of General Medical Sciences). C.A.E. was supported in part by a NIH NINDS Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award institutional research training grant (T32 NS091008 (NINDS)). S.X.X. is supported by NIH grant R01-NS102324 (NINDS).