Alberto Vogrig1, Jen Chun Hsiang1, Jacqueline Ng1, Joshua Rolnick1, Jessica Cheng1, Josef Parvizi2. 1. Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. 2. Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address: jparvizi@stanford.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to quantify the features of stereotypy in epileptic seizures and compare it with that of stereotypy in psychogenic nonepileptic seizure-like events (PNES) confirmed by video-electroencephalography (VEEG) monitoring. METHODS: Video-electroencephalography monitoring records of 20 patients with temporal lobe seizures (TLS) and 20 with PNES were retrospectively reviewed (n = 138 seizures, 48 TLS and 90 PNES). We analyzed the semiology of 59 behaviors of interest for their presence, duration, sequence, and continuity using quantified measures that were entered into statistical analysis. RESULTS: We identified discontinuity as the parameter that was clearly distinct between PNES and epileptic TLS events: there were significantly more frequent pauses of behavior (i.e., "on-off" pattern) in PNES compared with TLS (P = 0.012). The frequency of pauses during an event was diagnostic of PNES events. For instance, the presence of 2 "pauses" during an episode determines a 69% probability of the seizure being nonepileptic. Moreover, PNES events had significantly greater duration (143 s) than TLS events (68 s) (excluding outliers, P = 0.002) and greater duration variability from one event to another in the same subject (P = 0.005). SIGNIFICANCE: Our work provides the first quantified measure of behavioral semiology during epileptic and nonepileptic seizures and offers novel behavioral measures to differentiate them from each other.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to quantify the features of stereotypy in epilepticseizures and compare it with that of stereotypy in psychogenic nonepileptic seizure-like events (PNES) confirmed by video-electroencephalography (VEEG) monitoring. METHODS: Video-electroencephalography monitoring records of 20 patients with temporal lobe seizures (TLS) and 20 with PNES were retrospectively reviewed (n = 138 seizures, 48 TLS and 90 PNES). We analyzed the semiology of 59 behaviors of interest for their presence, duration, sequence, and continuity using quantified measures that were entered into statistical analysis. RESULTS: We identified discontinuity as the parameter that was clearly distinct between PNES and epileptic TLS events: there were significantly more frequent pauses of behavior (i.e., "on-off" pattern) in PNES compared with TLS (P = 0.012). The frequency of pauses during an event was diagnostic of PNES events. For instance, the presence of 2 "pauses" during an episode determines a 69% probability of the seizure being nonepileptic. Moreover, PNES events had significantly greater duration (143 s) than TLS events (68 s) (excluding outliers, P = 0.002) and greater duration variability from one event to another in the same subject (P = 0.005). SIGNIFICANCE: Our work provides the first quantified measure of behavioral semiology during epileptic and nonepileptic seizures and offers novel behavioral measures to differentiate them from each other.
Authors: Josef Parvizi; Rodrigo M Braga; Aaron Kucyi; Mike J Veit; Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas; Claire Perry; Clara Sava-Segal; Michael Zeineh; Eric Klaas van Staalduinen; Jaimie M Henderson; Matthew Markert Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2021-07-20 Impact factor: 12.779