title: Psychiatric predictors of pseudoepileptic seizures in patients with refractory seizures.
abstract: This study compared psychiatric factors and diagnoses in patients with pseudoepileptic seizures and genuine seizures. A semistructured interview identified psychiatric diagnosis and the presence of psychiatric factors associated with conversion phenomena. Twenty-five subjects with medically refractory seizures were interviewed and followed prospectively until a definitive diagnosis of pseudoepileptic or genuine seizures was made by neurologists using video-EEG telemetry. Four factors help to identify patients with pseudoepileptic seizures: a psychiatric diagnosis of either somatization disorder or personality disorder, the presence of a childhood loss, or the presence of a model for seizure symptoms. These findings can aid clinicians in identifying patients who would benefit from referral to a video-EEG telemetry diagnostic unit.
authors.affiliation: Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Eisendrath
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Valan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires