All issues > Volume 43(3); 2000

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2000;43(3):380-385. Published online March 15, 2000.

A Study on the Clinical Significance of Periodic Lateralized Epileptiform Discharges and Relation to Brain Imaging Study in Children

Jong Hwa JH Lee¹, Eun Young EY Park¹, Nam Su NS Kim¹, In Joon IJ Seol¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
: Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges(PLEDs), initially described by Chatrian et al in 1964, are an EEG phenomenon characterized by lateralized or focal spike-and-wave complexes with moderate to high voltage which occur in a periodic or semiperiodic pattern. This study was performed to assess the clinical significance of PLEDs and its relation to an imaging study of the brain.
Methods
: Twenty children(10 males and 10 females), from 2 days to 14 years of age, who had been hospitalized at Hanyang University Hospital were studied retrospectively. Their medical records, EEG results and brain imaging study were reviewed.
Results
: Of the 20 patients studied, 15 patients showed unilateral PLEDs and 5 had bilateral PLEDs in EEG. Brain imaging studies were done for 18 of the patients, revealing abnormalities in 15 patients in this order of frequency : intracranial hemorrhage, diffuse cerebral atrophy, leukomalacia, cerebral infarctions, cerebral edema and hydrocephalus. PLED sites were not significantly correlated with the results of the imaging study. Finally, 3 patients died and 17 patients survived, and among the surviving 17 patients, 5 had recurrent seizures, 1 had recurrent seizures with mental regression, 3 had neurologic sequelae without seizures and 8 had no neurologic sequelae.
Conclusion
: We conclude that children who show PLEDs in EEG are more commonly associated with acute cerebral lesions and there is a high incidence of subsequent seizures and/or other neurological sequelae in surviving children with PLEDs.

Keywords :Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges, Brain imaging study