Continuous spikes and waves during sleep in children with shunted hydrocephalus.

Focal epileptiform abnormalities in awake children submitted to ventricular shunting are well described in the literature, but there are few reports about EEG patterns during sleep. We studied 20 children affected by hydrocephalus of various aetiology and submitted to shunting during the first year of life. We found focal abnormalities in all the children and in 95% of cases they were on the same side as the shunt; in 65% of cases they had an amplitude of 300 mV or more. During sleep there was activation of abnormalities in all subjects, and in 33% we found continuous spikes and waves during slow sleep (CSWS). We discuss the aetiology of CSWS and its possible role in causing the neuropsychological disturbances of our patients.