The significance of frontal intermittent rhythmic delta activity in children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the correlation between frontal intermittent rhythmic delta activity (FIRDA) and the clinical and radiological correlates in children.


METHODS
Retrospective review of the EEG and imaging studies of 37 children with documented FIRDA.


RESULTS
FIRDA was associated with multiple neurological conditions and not necessarily with midline lesions. Patients with abnormal neurological exam had a longer FIRDA duration (average 9.5 seconds) compared to children with no reported abnormal examination (average of 6.5 seconds). FIRDA ranged from 2 to 2.5 Hz (n = 15), 3 Hz (n = 17) and from 1.5 to 3 Hz (n = 5) and there was a significant association between the duration of FIRDA and abnormal laboratory tests (p. < 0.05, Student's T test).


CONCLUSIONS
FIRDA was not correlated with midline brain lesions in children. FIRDA may be a non specific oscillation of an unhealthy pediatric brain with or without seizures.
Division of Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Shay
S
Menascu
Ismail
I
Mohamed
Shany M
SM
Tshechmer
Manohar
M
Shroff
Miguel A
MA
Cortez
D000293:Adolescent; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003700:Delta Rhythm; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies