Clinical features of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in prepubertal and pubertal patients with idiopathic epilepsy

Verrotti, Alberto; Agostinelli, Sergio; Mohn, Angelika; Manco, Rossella; Coppola, Giangennaro; Franzoni, Emilio; Cerminara, Caterina; Parisi, Pasquale; Iannetti, Paola; Spalice, Alberto; Balestri, Paolo; Grosso, Salvatore; Chiarelli, Francesco; Curatolo, Paolo

doi:10.1007/s10072-009-0107-x

Cited by 37 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Relational problems with peers was the most frequent stressor for girls (50%), while boys reported academic underachievement as the most prevalent stress factor (83%). Academic difficulty was also the most common stressor (58%) in the entire study group, in agreement with the results of some previous studies [13][14][15].…”

Section: Precipitating Stress Factorssupporting

confidence: 91%

Semiological and psychiatric characteristics of children with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Gender-related differences

Say

Taşdemir

İnce³

2015

Seizure

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Precipitating Stress Factorssupporting

confidence: 91%

Semiological and psychiatric characteristics of children with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Gender-related differences

Say

Taşdemir

İnce³

2015

Seizure

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, Verrotti et al. () documented that events were mainly of two types. In prepubertal patients, episodes were characterized primarily by unresponsive events, whereas the pubertal group primarily exhibited prominent motor events.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures in children: A review

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYOne of the considerations when a child presents with paroxysmal events is psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). PNES are discernible changes in behavior or consciousness that resemble epileptic seizures but are not accompanied by electrophysiologic changes. They are usually understood as the manifestation of a conversion disorder that reflects underlying psychological distress. There is a lack of population-based data on the prevalence or incidence of PNES in pediatric populations. The prevalence of PNES in children would appear to be lower than that in the adult population, but the prevalence of PNES seems to increase with age, and nonepileptic paroxysmal events are more likely to be PNES in adolescence than earlier in childhood. In terms of manifestation, PNES in childhood have been described using various categorizations and terminology, making comparisons across studies difficult. There is some evidence that events are more likely to involve unresponsiveness in younger children and prominent motor symptoms in older children. The most common precipitating factors would appear to be school-related difficulties and interpersonal conflict within the child's family. In terms of psychopathology, children with PNES are at high risk for symptoms of depression and anxiety. Accurate diagnosis of PNES in children is likely to involve taking a comprehensive description of the episodes, garnering the child's medical/developmental history, video-electroencephalography (video-EEG) to rule out epileptic seizures, and an evaluation of family functioning. The importance of effective and sensitive communication of the diagnosis of PNES has been emphasized and management approaches will typically involve multidisciplinary efforts to safely manage the events at home and at school. Interventions to reduce the effect of precipitating psychosocial stressors and the involvement of a mental health professional to treat comorbid psychopathology will also form part of an effective management plan. Outcome at follow-up is reported to be largely positive, although studies have not been able to follow all children, and few studies have focused on predictors of a good outcome. Future controlled intervention studies using a range of outcome measures are needed to identify efficacious approaches and predictors of best outcome.

show abstract

“…Higher Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness in patients with PNES may also reflect the influence of several psychosocial mediating factors that cannot be measured directly(42). The subjective symptomatology of seizure experiences and the personal representation of seizures are useful in the evaluation of these patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality traits in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and psychogenic movement disorder (PMD): Neuroticism and perfectionism

Ekanayake

Kranick

LaFaver

et al. 2017

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are two subtypes of conversion disorder (CD). In this case-control study, we asked whether these subtypes varied as a function of personality and history of childhood abuse, using the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R). Methods Fifty-nine patients with PMD from the Human Motor Control Section Clinic at the National Institutes of Health, 43 patients with PNES from the Rhode Island Hospital Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology Division, and 26 healthy volunteers (HC) received a battery of neurological, psychiatric and psychological assessments. Results One-way ANOVA between the three groups indicated significant differences in overall domains of Neuroticism (p=0.001) and Conscientiousness (p=0.009): Patients with PNES reported significantly greater levels of Neuroticism (p=0.002) and lower levels of Conscientiousness (p=0.023) than patients with PMD. Levels of Neuroticism remained significantly higher in both PMD and PNES than HC following correction for multiple comparisons. Patients with PNES reported greater levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, overall psychopathology, greater history of sexual abuse, greater levels of alexithymia, higher levels of dissociative symptoms, and an earlier age at which they experienced their most distressing traumatic event than patients with PMD. Conclusions These findings suggest that personality traits, type of abuse and age of onset of trauma varies as a function of CD subtype. Patients with PNES rated greater Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness than patients with PMD. These differing psychological profiles may inform differing treatment approaches such as psychological therapies for PNES and physiotherapy (with/without psychotherapy) for PMD.

show abstract

Clinical features of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in prepubertal and pubertal patients with idiopathic epilepsy

Cited by 37 publications

References 25 publications

Semiological and psychiatric characteristics of children with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Gender-related differences

Semiological and psychiatric characteristics of children with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Gender-related differences

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures in children: A review

Personality traits in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and psychogenic movement disorder (PMD): Neuroticism and perfectionism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About