Semiology of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Age-related differences

AbstractThe few studies addressing semiology of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in children showed that this group differs from adults, considering the classical signs described. Our study with systematic assessment provides a direct comparison of the classical signs of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) in children and adults in order to establish the usefulness of the most important signs described for adults in children. Video-EEG recordings of patients with PNESs from 2006 to 2011 were analyzed. Twenty-five signs were selected as the most prevalent in literature, and their presence was evaluated. Events were categorized as either of the following: catatonic, major motor, minor motor, and subjective (Griffith et al., 2007 [11]). One hundred and fifteen patients were included; 63.5% were adults, 73.2% were females, and 14.4% had epilepsy. Adults presented more ictal eye closure (p=0.006), convulsions lasting >2min (p