Juvenile absence epilepsy

**Definition:** Juvenile absence epilepsy is one of the age-related idiopathic generalised epilepsies (IGE) with an age at onset between 10 and 17 years of age, and is characterised by sporadic (non-pyknoleptic) occurrence of absence seizures frequently associated with generalised tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) predominantly on awakening. Interictal and ictal EEG shows generalised spike and wave discharges with normal background activity.