Psychogenic seizures: video telemetry observations in 27 patients.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Psychogenic seizures are unusual during the first decade of life. To compare the clinical features of psychogenic seizures in young children with those of teenagers, the long-term electroencephalographic and video monitoring studies of all patients younger than 18 years of age with recorded episodes diagnosed as psychogenic seizures were reviewed from a single hospital during the past 7 years. The 27 patients were divided into 2 age groups: group A, 6-9 years (n = 5), and group B, 10-17 years (n = 22). All patients had habitual episodes recorded during monitoring. Although the adolescents displayed clinical patterns similar to adult patients with psychogenic seizures, the children demonstrated a clinical pattern characterized mainly by prolonged staring and unresponsiveness. The most common behaviors in the adolescent group were tremor (45%), intermittent stiffening (41%), and out-of-phase movements of the extremities (36%). Fifteen percent of the patients had a history of seizures. This study suggests that young children with psychogenic seizures have clinical profiles different from that of teenagers.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Kramer, U; Carmant, L; Riviello, JJ; Stauffer, A; Helmers, SL; Mikati, MA; Holmes, GL

Published Date

  • January 1995

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 12 / 1

Start / End Page

  • 39 - 41

PubMed ID

  • 7748358

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0887-8994

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/0887-8994(94)00115-i

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States