Study on FIRDA and 3 Hz rhythmic slow wave bursts occurring in the frontal area of epileptic patients.
We classified epileptic patients with frontal-dominant rhythmic slow-wave bursts into a FIRDA group with frequencies of 1.5 to 2.5 Hz and a 3 Hz group with a frequency of 3 Hz. We compared the two groups in clinical background and EEG findings. The patients in the FIRDA group were older, and partial epilepsy was more common. In the 3 Hz group, idiopathic generalized epilepsy was more common. All of the partial epilepsy in the patients in the FIRDA group was symptomatic, and organic brain damage such as sequelae of brain tumor surgery, or cerebrovascular disorders, etc., were the most common primary diseases. There was no difference between the two groups in frequency of seizures, and VPA was the drug most often used to treat the patients in the 3 Hz group. No morphological differences between the two group, except the difference in frequency, were observed among the EEG findings. Accompaniment by localized spike waves or sharp waves was more common in the FIRDA group. When epilepsy was accompanied by rhythmic slow-wave bursts in the frontal area, its clinical significance depended on whether its frequency was 2.5 Hz or less or 3 Hz. When it was 2.5 Hz or less, symptomatic partial epilepsy was more common, suggesting the presence of large, prominent organic brain damage, such as sequelae of brain tumor surgery or cerebrovascular disorders. Idiopathic generalized epilepsy, on the other hand, was shown to be more common when the frequency was 3 Hz.
Kubota
F
F
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Gunma University School of Medicine, Japan.
Ohnishi
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D003700:Delta Rhythm; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male