[Occipital spike-wave with and without benign epilepsy in the child]

We describe 31 children with runs of high amplitude and variable frequency spike-and-wave discharges on the occipito-postero-temporal regions at the EEG. This characteristic EEG pattern can be seen on the posterior areas of one or both hemispheres only when the eyes are closed. A functional spike-wave focus of temporo-rolandic localization also occurred in 13 cases. Clinically, 10 children were seizure-free with minimal brain dysfunction in 8 of them. Of these, only 4 patients suffered from febrile convulsions while the 17 other patients were undergoing treatment for visual, motor or vegetative partial seizures, and even generalized fits. The prognosis of this essentially functional childhood epilepsy was good under phenobarbital therapy in almost all of our cases. This benign occipital epilepsy is related to childhood epilepsy with rolandic paroxysms.