MPEI (Migrating Partial Epilepsy of Infancy)

Migrating Partial Epilepsy of Infancy (MPEI) or Malignant Migrating Partial Seizures of Infancy (MMPSI) as it is also known, is a very rare type of epilepsy affecting less than 100 children worldwide.

Seizures start in very early childhood, often from the first few weeks of life, and all affected children will have started having seizures by six months of age.

In the first few weeks of life, seizures may not occur regularly, however very rapidly they increase in frequency to the point where they may occur 10, 50 or even 100 (or more) times a day, every day.

Affected children have both partial and generalized seizures and the pattern, appearance and duration of these seizures changes regularly making it a very difficult condition to manage.

Affected children go through noticeable "good" periods where seizures may disappear for a few days or weeks. This may be followed or preceded by "bad" periods where seizures may be almost continuous - with no obvious explanation.

All children have considerably delayed development and numerous other medical issues.

No cause has been found to explain this type of epilepsy. All tests, including brain scans, blood and urine tests, skin and muscle biopsies and genetic tests are to date, normal. It is not believed to be due to any ‘birth injury’ and it does not seem to run in families.

It is currently speculated that the underlying genetic basis of this epilepsy syndrome may not be the same for every child, which is why children with this condition do not all respond in the same way to treatment.

It is agreed however, that all children with this condition display similar symptoms and progression of their condition, and whatever the underlying genetic fault within the child, the outward presentation of this condition shows remarkable homology between affected children.

It is also believed that MPEI may display a range of severities, which is demonstrated by the age of seizure onset, the range of learned skills and age of mortality of children with this condition.

It has been reported that if the seizures can be controlled for a number of months, it is possible that the child may show some developmental progress, however in our experience this has not been the case. Obtaining seizure freedom in this condition is very rare.