title: Interictal autonomic abnormalities in idiopathic Rolandic epilepsy.
abstract: We investigated 50 young patients with a diagnosis of Rolandic Epilepsy (RE) for the presence of abnormalities in autonomic tone compared with 50 young patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy with absences and 50 typically developing children of comparable age. We analyzed time domain (N-N interval, pNN50) and frequency domain (High Frequency (HF), Low Frequency (LF) and LF/HF ratio) indices from ten-minute resting EKG activity. Patients with RE showed significantly higher HF and lower LF power and lower LF/HF ratio than controls, independent of the epilepsy group, and did not show significant differences in any other autonomic index with respect to the two control groups. In RE, we found a negative relationship between both seizure load and frequency of sleep interictal EEG abnormalities with parasympathetic drive levels. These changes might be the expression of adaptive mechanisms to prevent the excessive sympathetic drive seen in patients with refractory epilepsies.
authors.affiliation: Aston Brain Centre, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK. s.seri@aston.ac.uk
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seri
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pisano
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinci
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brazzo
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Betteridge
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerquiglini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D019305:Epilepsy, Rolandic / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012384:Rome; D018401:Sample Size; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants