Introduction: About 20% of patients develop drug –resistant epilepsy (DRE). There are only few studies on outcome of medically-treated DRE in children (1,2).

Methods: This observational study was carried out in a hospital-based child neurology clinic in a large Indian city. Patients included were 1) Onset  age < 13 yrs  2) Mean frequency of 1 seizure / month for at least 2 years despite therapy with =>2  AEDs. 3) Minimum 5 years from epilepsy onset. Chart reviews and caretaker interviews were used. Progressive disorders, idiopathic epilepsies and surgical patients were excluded.
The Kaplan Meier survival analysis was used to construct a life table, using <1 seizure per year as a definition for good control. Poor control was defined as <75% control while good control as > 75% control on day of data entry. The Pearson Chi Square test was used to test the association between various characteristics and poor control.

Results: Of 62 patients, follow-up information was sufficient in 60 of which 4 were excluded as they had surgical treatment. Follow up was between 5-24 years (mean 10.6 yrs). Of the remaining 56 patients 36(64.29%) had >75% improvement (26 patients were seizure free) and 20(35.71%) had <=75% improvement. The percentage of patients who remit per year was 4.5%. Abnormal imaging & use of =>5 AEDs were associated with <75% improvement.

Conclusions: The long-term outcome in medically-treated DRE in children is not as pessimistic as would seem. Our results generally are in line with earlier publications (1,2).