1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-13-71-b 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-13-9-10 Seizure Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Benign Partial Seizures of Adolescence http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 09 1999 01 05 2016 13 9 71 72 Copyright: © 1999 The Author(s) 1999 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Benign partial seizures of adolescence

Eight patients matching the description of benign partial seizures of adolescence (BPSA), as described by Loiseau et al in 1978, were found among 92 teenagers, including 37 with new-onset focal seizures, enrolled in a prospective first-seizure study at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

 Benign Partial Seizures of Adolescence Epileptiform Transients Carbamazepine

Eight patients matching the description of benign partial seizures of adolescence (BPSA), as described by Loiseau et al in 1978, were found among 92 teenagers, including 37 with new-onset focal seizures, enrolled in a prospective first-seizure study at the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Four of the 8 patients with BPSA were boys and 4 girls, aged 11-17 years. All seizures were Jacksonian in pattern, with a sensory/motor march, 6 were secondarily generalized, and 2 had only simple partial seizures before referral. The initial EEG was normal in 6; subsequent sleep deprived EEGs showed focal epileptiform transients in 3. Postictal recordings showed unilateral multifocal epileptiform discharges in one and a single occipital discharge in one. MRI was normal in all patients. Three were treated with carbamazepine for 2 years, and one had seizure recurrence after discontinuing treatment. Three had infrequent simple partial seizures at 2 year follow-up. [1]

COMMENT. Partial seizures of adolescence, characterized by a sensory/motor march, can be idiopathic and relatively benign, and may not invariably require antiepileptic therapy. The authors present a group of patients with so-called “benign partial seizures of adolescence,” representing 22% of new-onset focal seizures in teenagers enrolled in a prospective study.

When to start and stop anticonvulsant therapy is a question reviewed by Greenwood RS, Tennison MB [2]. In general, AEDs should be withheld until after a second seizure and tapered after 2 years without seizures. The risks and benefits are discussed. In practice, the decision must be individualized and a general rule does not apply.

King MA Newton MR Berkovic SF Benign partial seizures of adolescence Epilepsia 1999 Sep 40 9 1244 7 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00853.x 10487187 Greenwood RS Tennison MB When to start and stop anticonvulsant therapy in children Arch Neurol 1999 Sep 56 9 1073 7 10.1001/archneur.56.9.1073 10488807