Pediatric psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: A retrospective observational cohort study at a quaternary center.
Epilepsy Behav
; 146: 109359, 2023 09.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37499579
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) represent a common functional disorder in the pediatric population. We aimed to characterize pediatric PNES by describing their clinical characteristics, PNES semiologies, and healthcare pathway towards and after diagnosis. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
This was a retrospective, observational chart review of pediatric patients aged 6 to 18 years admitted between December 2020 and December 2021 for spell classification or suspected PNES. Psychogenic non-epileptic seizure diagnosis was made by the capture of a typical event on video electroencephalogram (vEEG). We used descriptive statistics to summarize demographic and clinical characteristics.RESULTS:
We included 26 patients (18 females, 69.2%) with a mean age (SD) of 13.9 (2.5) years. Pre-morbid neurologic and psychiatric conditions included epilepsy (23.1%), migraine (46.2%), mild traumatic brain injury (26.9%), anxiety (57.7%), ADHD (34.6%), and depression (30.8%). Six patients (23.1%) had a prior diagnosis of PNES. 14 patients (53.8%) presented with convulsive, and 6 (23.1%) each with non-convulsive and mixed PNES. Patients were seen by a range of providers prior to diagnosis including ED providers (50%), neurologists (53.8%), pediatricians (34.6%), and psychology/psychiatry (11.5%). Emergency department evaluation occurred for 13 patients (50%) on 15 occasions, and six (23.1%) were admitted to the hospital. The median (p25-p75) time from PNES onset to presentation and diagnosis at our institution was 3.5 (1.5-6.2) and 4.1 (3-7) months, respectively. A total of 33 events from the 26 patients were captured on vEEG. The most frequent semiologies in our cohort were rhythmic motor (27.3%) followed by equal frequency (18.2%) of complex motor and dialeptic. Eighteen patients (69.2%) were followed after the PNES diagnosis, for a median (p25-p75) of 17.3 months (6.3-21) with variable outcome.CONCLUSION:
Pediatric PNES has female predominance and often presents with comorbid psychosocial stressors and psychiatric conditions. High clinical suspicion and early recognition are crucial to decrease healthcare utilization and establish timely diagnosis and treatment.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Trastornos Psicofisiológicos
/
Epilepsia
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Epilepsy Behav
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
NEUROLOGIA
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos