Benign partial epilepsy of childhood with monomorphic sharp waves in centrotemporal and other locations.

We reviewed EEGs from children whose history and clinical course was compatible with benign partial epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes. In 21% of patients with a single EEG focus, the discharge was outside the centrotemporal area. In 37.5% of patients with more than one focus, one was in the centrotemporal area while the other was not. We suggest that the typical EEG features of this syndrome are the normal background, the stereotypic morphology of the sharp waves, and their activation by drowsiness and sleep, not their exclusive location in the centrotemporal regions. Insistence on a centrotemporal location for the EEG discharges in this syndrome may lead to a misclassification of the type of epilepsy in some children with implications for therapeutic decisions and prognostic statements.