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[Idiopathic partial epilepsy with occipital paroxysms]
R H Caraballo1, R O Cersósimo, C S Medina
1Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Nacional de Pediatria J. P. Garraham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Revista De Neurologia
|July 1, 1997
Summary
This study identified two distinct forms of idiopathic occipital epilepsy: the Gastaut type and the Panayiotopoulos type. The Panayiotopoulos type presents a more benign and frequent course in childhood epilepsy.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Epileptology
Background:
- Partial benign epilepsy of childhood with occipital paroxysms (EPBI-O) is an idiopathic partial epilepsy.
- Gastaut described EPBI-O in 1982; Panayiotopoulos described a different form in 1989.
Observation:
- A prospective study analyzed 74 patients diagnosed with EPBI-O between 1990 and 1996.
- Patients underwent clinical and electro-encephalic examinations over a 6-month to 6.5-year follow-up period.
Findings:
- Two groups were identified: Group I (18 patients) with visual crises and post-ictal migraines, predominantly awake, and Group II (56 patients) with vomiting and oculo-encephalic version crises, predominantly during sleep.
- EEG revealed occipital paroxysms in Group I and occipital spikes similar to benign epilepsy with Rolandic spikes (EPBI-R) in Group II.
- Two patients exhibited associated crises of both EPBI-O types.
Implications:
- The study confirms two variants of EPBI-O: the 'Gastaut' type and the 'Panayiotopoulos' type.
- The 'Panayiotopoulos' type appears to have a more benign and frequent clinical course.
- Differentiating these subtypes is crucial for understanding idiopathic occipital epilepsies.