Healy L, et al. - In this retrospective case-notes review, the researchers intended to ascertain how many patients attending the epilepsy service with juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE) or juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) went into 2-year remission, and then relapsed, both off and on antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). For this analysis, patients with JAE and JME were systematically ascertained from clinic lists and databases at one teaching hospital. They discovered that remission rates for JAE and JME were lower than expected. They reported that higher proportions of seizure free patients underwent physician-supervised withdrawal than anticipated. It was noted that relapse rates off AEDs were similar for JAE and JME, and at least twice as high as for those remaining on AEDs, and a further remission was not invariable on restarting AEDs. They suggested that their experience, comparing relapse in those withdrawing to those staying on AEDs will help in consultations with patients keen to try AED withdrawal.