PATTERN SENSITIVITY AND PHOTOSENSITIVITY IN EPILEPTIC CHILDREN WITH VISUALLY INDUCED SEIZURES

We evaluated photosensitivity and pattern sensitivity in 74 epileptic children (38 males, 36 females aged 4.4-19 years; mean age 11.9 years) with reflex seizures induced by environmental visual stimuli and anal yzed clinical and EEG characteristics of patients according to type of sensitivity. Standard procedures of visual stimulation were used in a ll cases. Seven children were excluded because of poor cooperation (3) or no activation (4). Fifty-one percent of the remaining 67 patients showed sensitivity to both light and pattern, whereas 33% showed photo sensitivity and 16% showed pattern sensitivity. Generalized abnormalit ies were more frequently elicited by intermittent light stimulation th an by pattern (73 vs. 36%, p < 0.001). Significant differences in clin ical and EEG findings were noted among patients according to their sen sitivity to light or/and pattern. In particular, pattern-sensitivity p atients without photosensitivity had a higher occurrence of localizati on-related symptomatic epilepsies, neurologic abnormalities, and epile ptiform EEG abnormalities, mainly focal, at rest.