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Prolonged psychogenic nonepileptic seizures or pseudostatus
Ali A Asadi-Pooya1, Yasaman Emami2, Mehrdad Emami2
1Neurosciences Research Center, Shiraz Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA.
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B
|November 23, 2013
Summary
Patients experiencing prolonged psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs), also known as PNES-status, are common. However, these patients do not differ from those with PNESs without prolonged attacks in terms of demographics, clinical traits, or predisposing factors.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Epilepsy Research
Background:
- Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) are events resembling epileptic seizures but without abnormal electrical discharges in the brain.
- Prolonged episodes, termed PNES-status, are a recognized but less understood subset of PNESs.
- Understanding potential differences between patients with and without PNES-status is crucial for diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether patients experiencing prolonged psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES-status) exhibit distinct demographic and clinical characteristics compared to patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) without prolonged attacks.
- To identify potential predisposing factors that may differentiate these two patient groups.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 211 patients clinically diagnosed with PNESs (confirmed by ictal recordings) was conducted.
- Patients were recruited from an outpatient epilepsy clinic between 2008 and 2013.
- Demographic, clinical characteristics, and potential predisposing factors were compared between patients with PNES-status (n=49) and those with PNES-only (n=162) via epileptologist interviews.
Main Results:
- Of the 211 patients studied, 49 (23.2%) experienced PNES-status, while 162 (76.8%) did not.
- No statistically significant differences were found between the PNES-status group and the PNES-only group regarding demographic characteristics.
- Similarly, no significant differences were observed in clinical characteristics or factors potentially predisposing to PNESs between the two groups.
Conclusions:
- Psychogenic nonepileptic seizure status (PNES-status) occurs in a notable proportion of patients with PNESs.
- Current findings suggest that patients with PNES-status are clinically and demographically similar to patients with PNESs without prolonged attacks.
- Further research may be needed to explore other potential differentiating factors beyond those examined in this study.
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