A comparative study of the diagnostic value of drug-induced sleep EEGs and sleep EEGs following sleep deprivation in patients with complex partial seizures

✍ Scribed by R. Degen; H. -E. Degen

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 606 KB
• Volume: 225
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-5354
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00313322

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the sleep EEG after sleep deprivation has a stronger provocative effect than the drug-induced sleep EEG. For this purpose a sleep EEG, induced by 2 mg/kg body weight of promazine hydrochloride, was recorded. On the following day a sleep EEG of the same patient was recorded after sleep deprivation of 24--26 h. If only patients whose wake EEGs were free from epileptic activity are considered, the rate of provocation was 58%. As epileptic activity could be recorded even in the sleep EEG without sleep deprivation in 45%, the advantage gained by recording a sleep EEG after sleep deprivation (52%) is only relatively small. The occurrence of epileptic activity was shown to be significantly more frequent amongst women and those who developed epilepsy at a younger age. For practical purposes it is recommended that for those patients whose wake EEGs are free from epileptic activity, a sleep EEG--possibly drug-induced--should be recorded. Only in instances where epileptic activity can not then be recorded should a wake EEG after sleep deprivation be carried out, and followed immediately, if necessary, by a sleep EEG.