[Benign partial convulsions in adolescence].
BACKGROUND
Loiseau and Orgogozo first described benign partial convulsions of adolescence (BPCA).


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical and electroencephalographic characteristics of adolescent patients diagnosed as having BPCA.


METHODS
We reviewed the clinical histories of 125 patients with onset of partial epilepsy between the ages of 10 and 18 years, followed-up at the J.P. Garrahan Hospital, Buenos Aires, between 1990 and 1997. Fourteen of these patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria for BPCA. We analyzed the following clinical and electroencephalographic parameters: sex, personal and family history, age of onset, semiology, distribution, duration and frequency of crises, neurological examination, neuro-images (brain CT/MR) using conventional techniques, time of follow-up and evolution.


RESULTS
Ten patients were boys (71.4%) and four girls (28.6%). The follow-up period was from one to seven years (average 3.1 years). Convulsions had started at between 10 and 16 years old, average 12 years old, with a peak of maximum incidence at between 12 and 13 years old. The crises were of partial simple type in 12 patients (85.7%) and partial complex type in 2 (14.3%); nine cases had secondarily generalized tonic-clonic convulsions (64.2%). Crises were brief in 100%, in 13 cases (93%) they occurred whilst awake and in one case (7%) during sleep.


CONCLUSIONS
BPCA occur in a transient condition which affects males more often than females, has a peak onset at between 12 and 13 years of age and is characterized by simple motor partial crises, frequently with secondary generalization, single or inclusters, during waking and is of a benign course. Neurological examination, EEG between crises and neuro-radiological studies were normal.
Caraballo
R
R
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Nacional de Pediatría J.P. Garrahan, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Galicchio
S
S
Grañana
N
N
Cersósimo
R
R
Fejerman
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D002220:Carbamazepine
Convulsiones parciales benignas de la adolescencia.