title: Factors affecting the occurrence of high-frequency positive occipital sharp transients of sleep.
abstract: To elucidate possible factors affecting the incidence of high-frequency positive occipital sharp transients of sleep (H-POSTS) and to investigate whether H-POSTS are associated with any specific pathophysiological conditions, we visually inspected on consecutive routine diurnal EEGs (2705 records) using our criteria for identification of H-POSTS. H-POSTS were observed in 164 records (subject age: 7.9 to 83.2 years). The incidence of H-POSTS was lower in subjects with highly abnormal EEG findings. Female subjects had a significantly higher incidence of H-POSTS than males that could not be explained by other factors. Patients with either fainting or headache had a significantly higher incidence of H-POSTS and lower grade of EEG abnormality. The precise mechanism of the gender difference in the incidence of H-POSTS could not be determined. The occurrence of H-POSTS seemed to be associated with healthy sleep macrostructure, rather than with any specific pathophysiological phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. 7n2ecx@jarl.com
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Tetsuhiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.forename: Ikurou
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Murase
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013575:Syncope / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology