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Seizures Involving the Supplementary Sensorimotor Area in Children: A Video‐EEG Analysis
Author(s) -
Connolly Mary B.,
Langill Lisa,
Wong Peter K. H.,
Farrell Kevin
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1995.tb00962.x
Subject(s) - ictal , electroencephalography , epilepsy , psychology , rolandic epilepsy , population , audiology , etiology , medicine , pediatrics , neuroscience , psychiatry , environmental health
Summary: Most reports of supplementary sensorimotor seizures have been of adults with medically refractory epilepsy. Typically, supplementary sensorimotor seizures have onset in childhood. We describe the electro‐clinical features in 12 children. Cases were selected from an EEG laboratory population in whom video‐EEG was performed routinely on all children. Supplementary sensorimotor seizures were diagnosed when there was bilateral tonic posturing of the upper or lower extremities, preserved consciousness, and lack of postictal confusion. Sensory auras were reported by 8 of 9 children aged >3 years who had daytime seizures. Speech arrest occurred in all patients in whom it could be assessed, and abnormal vocalization was observed in 7 children. Interictal EEGs were often normal (49% of recordings), and ictal EEG changes could be subtle. An etiology was demonstrated in only 2 children, and brain imaging studies were normal in the other 10 patients. Seizures were controlled with anti‐epileptic drugs (AEDs) in 6 of the 12 children. The clinical manifestations of supplementary sensorimotor seizures in children are similar to those reported in adults; misdiagnosis is common at all ages.