[Epilepsy with centrotemporal (Rolandic) spikes. A peculiar seizure disorder of childhood].

The study presents the results of a long term investigation of 60 epileptic children with Rolandic (centrotemporal) spikes in EEG. The results could be summarized as follows: the Rolandic epilepsy is relatively frequent entity (13.4% of the total number of epileptic children). The age span was from 3--13 years, with a peak of age incidence between the 7th and 8th year of life. More than half of children had nocturnal fits only. From the clinical point of view 60% of children had generalized crises, and the remaining 40% had partial attacks corresponding to the functional organization of the Rolandic cortical area. The evolution of the Rolandic epilepsy in childhood is favourable. More than 50% didn't have more attacks after the introduction of antiepileptic therapy, and 3/4 of them could be classified as practically cured after an long-term follow-up (criterion: an attack-free period of at least 5 years. Finally, in more than 80% of cases after three years of follow-up the spikes have disappeared from the EEG tracings which were completely normal.