Circadian rhythm of regular spike-wave discharges in childhood absence epilepsy.
Four girls with childhood absence epilepsy with several seizures every day were investigated using an ambulatory cassette EEG. Recordings were started at about 6 pm, and were run continuously for about 22 hours. We studied only the regular and symmetrical 3 Hz spike-wave discharges of at least 5 seconds duration, which are quite similar to or identical with those found in the clinical seizures. Regular spike-wave discharges occurred frequently during wakefulness in 2 cases and during sleep in the other 2 cases: in the latter, they occurred rarely during wakefulness. During wakefulness, we did not find a special time zone in which regular spike-wave discharges were facilitated; during nocturnal sleep, however, they were concentrated in the last third. The rate of regular spike-wave discharges per hour was the highest during stage 1, low during stages 2 and REM, and zero during stage 3 + 4. Average duration of regular spike-wave discharges was the longest during wakefulness in most cases, and shortest during stage 2 in all the cases.
Department of Pediatrics, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
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H
Horita
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Uchida
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Maekawa
D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D004585:Electrooculography; D004832:Epilepsy, Absence / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology