Oculomotor phenomena in petit-mal

Objective: To determine the temporal relationship among behavior, eye movem ents and respiration during absence seizures. Method: This included simultaneous videorecording of a patient's face, EEG and respirogram, in 5 patients with absence seizures. Absence seizures were defined as a sudden lapse of consciousness with impairment of mental funct ions. Oculomotor phenomena consisted of: eye fluttering, eye deviation (con jugate lateral or upward deflection), and eye-opening. Results: Oculomotor phenomena began 1 2/3-3 s after the onset of the electr ographic discharge and ended before the discharge. The most frequent events were eye-opening, stare with or without palpebral myoclonias, and tonic or clonic upward movements. Downward movement or convergence was not observed as well as head version. Respiratory changes (apnea) are the last events t o occur. Conclusions: absence seizures were characterized by the onset of a 3/s spik e-slow wave discharge followed by oculomotor phenomena and respiratory chan ges. The time course suggests that epileptic discharges precede and then in volve oculomotor and respiratory brainstem centers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.