Affiliation:
1. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research in Epilepsy and Neuromuscular Disorders, and the Second Neurological Department, Neurological Hospital Rosenhügel, Vienna, Austria
Abstract
ABSTRACT Subclinical epileptiform activity in patients with respiratory chain disorders (RCDs) has not been previously investigated by video-EEG monitoring. The purpose of this study was to look for the type and frequency of epileptiform activity during a 24h-video-EEG recording in RCD patients. Eleven patients with RCD, 7 women and 4 men, aged 24–72 years, underwent a clinical neurologic examination, blood tests, CT/MRI scans of the brain, routine scalp EEG and continuous video-EEG monitoring over 24 consecutive hours. Ten patients had normal 24h-video-EEG recordings. One of these patients had no CNS involvement; her resting EEGs showed diffuse background slowing. In one patient, automatic spike detection revealed 12 spikes during a 6 hour period. Resting scalp EEG in this patient showed extensive, bilaterally synchronous, pseudoperiodic polyspike-waves. In conclusion, subclinical epileptiform activity could be recorded by 24h-video-EEG monitoring in only 1 of 11 RCD patients. The single patient with subclinical epileptiform activity presented with intermittent myoclonic jerks.