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Timing Discontinuation of Antiepileptic Treatment in Childhood Epilepsies–The Role of the Sleep Deprivation EEG: A Preliminary Study
Author(s) -
Clemens Béla
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1989.tb02555.x
Subject(s) - discontinuation , electroencephalography , sleep deprivation , sleep (system call) , epilepsy , medicine , privation , psychology , audiology , pediatrics , psychiatry , cognition , computer science , operating system
Sleep deprivation EEGs can help us in timing discontinuation of antiepileptic treatment of childhood epilepsy. After 3–5 seizure‐free years, a negative sleep deprivation EEG (i.e., the lack of any epileptiform potentials) is a good predictor of terminal remission of the seizures after cessation of the drug. In the drug‐free follow‐up period (in average 2 years) only 2/40 patients relapsed, 38/40 (= 95 percent) remained free of seizures. The results and limits of the study as well as the theoretical background are discussed briefly.