title: Patients with electrical status epilepticus in sleep share similar clinical features regardless of their focal or generalized sleep potentiation of epileptiform activity.
abstract: The study objective was to compare qualitatively the clinical features of patients with electrical status epilepticus in sleep with focal versus generalized sleep potentiated epileptiform activity. We enrolled patients 2 to 20 years of age, studied between 2001 and 2009, and with sleep potentiated epileptiform activity defined as an increase of epileptiform activity of 50% or more during non-rapid eye movement sleep compared with wakefulness. Eighty-five patients met the inclusion criteria, median age was 7.3 years, and 54 (63.5%) were boys. Sixty-seven (78.8%) patients had focal sleep potentiated epileptiform activity, whereas 18 (21.2%) had generalized sleep potentiated epileptiform activity. The 2 groups did not differ with respect to sex, age, presence of a structural brain abnormality, epilepsy, or other qualitative cognitive, motor, or behavioral problems. Our data suggest that there are no qualitative differences in the clinical features of patients with focal versus generalized sleep potentiated epileptiform activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. ivan.fernandez@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Iván Sánchez
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Jurriaan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeoka
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rotenberg
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhu
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gregas
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Riviello
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kothare
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loddenkemper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult