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[Brain stem auditory evoked potentials in children with partial seizures]
1Laboratoire de physiologie, UER de Médecine, Angers, France.
Insights
Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) may be abnormal in children with partial epilepsy, suggesting brainstem involvement. Abnormalities were more frequent in complex partial seizures but unrelated to epilepsy duration or therapy.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurology
- Epileptology
Context:
- Partial epilepsy affects children, with potential underlying brainstem dysfunction.
- Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) are used to assess auditory pathway integrity.
- Previous research has not extensively explored BAEP in pediatric partial epilepsy excluding specific syndromes.
Purpose:
- To investigate Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEP) in children diagnosed with partial epilepsy.
- To compare BAEP results between children with partial epilepsy and a control group without neurological diseases.
- To explore the relationship between BAEP abnormalities and clinical parameters like seizure frequency, duration, and therapy.
Summary:
- BAEP were recorded in 34 children with partial epilepsy (excluding rolandic spikes and occipital paroxysms) and compared to controls.
- Twelve children (35%) showed abnormal BAEP responses.
- Abnormalities were observed in 8 out of 13 children with complex partial seizures, but no correlation was found with seizure number, duration, or therapy.
Impact:
- Suggests potential brainstem involvement in the pathophysiology of partial epilepsy in children.
- Highlights the utility of BAEP as a potential biomarker for neuronal dysfunction in this population.
- May inform future diagnostic and prognostic approaches for pediatric partial epilepsy.
Abstract:
BAEP were recorded in 34 children with partial seizures. Epilepsy with rolandic spikes and occipital paroxysms were excluded. Results were then compared with data from subjects without neurological diseases. Twelve children presented abnormal responses. There were no relationship between results of BAEP and either number of seizures, duration of epilepsy or therapy. Eight of 13 children with complex partial seizures showed abnormal BAEP. Prognostic value of results is discussed. This study shows that Brain stem may be involved in the neuronal dysfunction observed during partial epilepsy.