ELECTROCLINICAL FEATURES OF IDIOPATHIC GENERALIZED EPILEPSY WITH PERSISTING ABSENCES IN ADULT LIFE

Objectives-To describe the electroclinical features of typical absence s persisting in adult life. Methods-Twelve adult patients (aged 21 to 56 years) with idiopathic generalised epilepsy featuring typical absen ces as the prominent clinical feature were studied. All patients under went a full clinical and neurophysiological investigation including ic tal documentation of seizures. Results-Neurological examination and ne uroradiological investigations were normal in all cases. Clinical find ings included a median age at onset of absences of 14 (range 4-32) yea rs, almost constant tonic-clonic seizures (in 83% of patients), freque nt episodes of absence status (in 33% of patients), and associated cog nitive or psychiatric disturbances. Interictal EEG findings showed nor mal background activity, generalised paroxysms of spike waves or polys pike waves, and inconstant focal spikes (in five patients); runs of po lyspikes were seen during non-REM sleep. Ictal EEG findings showed gen eralised spike waves at 3 Hz, sometimes preceded by multiple spikes, o r more complex EEG patterns with sequences of polyspikes intermingled with spike waves or polyspike waves, showing discharge fragmentation o r variation of intradischarge frequency. Conclusion-The results of the present study show that absences persisting in adult life may show pa rticular clinical and EEG patterns, distinct from those in childhood o r adolescence.