All issues > Volume 50(8); 2007

Review Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2007;50(8):726-731. Published online August 15, 2007.

Non-epileptic paroxysmal events during sleep - Differentiation from epileptic seizures -

In Kyu IK Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea

Correspondence In Kyu IK Lee ,Email: inkyuyi@chol.com

Abstract

This review describes the wide spectrum of paroxysmal events during sleep in infancy and childhood. The differential diagnosis between sleep-related non-epileptic paroxysmal events and epileptic seizures is difficult in special occasions. The nocturnal frontal lobe seizure and of the more common non- epileptic paroxysmal events during sleep are described. The main differentiating features characterizing parasomnias are: onset in early childhood, rare episodes of long duration, relatively lower frequency per night, absence of stereotypy, gradual disappearance of older age. Video-polysomnography is the gold standard to diagnosing and differentiating parasomnias from nocturnal frontal lobe seizures.

Keywords :Childhood parasomnias, Frontal lobe seizures, Arousal disorders, Sleep terror, Somambulism, Sleep, Nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy, Childhood epilepsy, Differential diagnosis