Effectiveness of methods of differential diagnosis of paroxysmal disorders of consciousness in children

Abstract

Abstrast. Clinical, electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods used for differential diagnosis of different forms of epileptic and nonepileptic paroxysms in children in the early stages of the disease are considered. 527 patients aged 1 to 18 years were examined. As a result of a comprehensive survey, taking into account the data of video-electroencephalogram monitoring, 317 patients with epilepsy with a significant predominance of symptomatic forms of epilepsy were revealed, of which 166 (42,37%) patients had focal forms, 36 (11,36%) patients - generalized. A significant number of children were found to have conditionally symptomatic focal epilepsy - 94 (29,65%), only 4 (1,26%) patients - with Landau - Kleffner syndrome and a relatively small group - 17 (5,36%) patients with idiopathic epilepsy. Nonepileptic paroxysms were more common in boys in all age groups except for children from 1 to 3 years, but in this group of children the difference in the frequency of different paroxysms is insignificant (0,48%). In the frequency of nonepileptic paroxysms significantly prevailed in boys aged 3 to 6 years (13,33%) and 6 to 9 years (11,43%). In girls, nonepileptic paroxysms were more common at the age of 3 to 6 years (10,48%) and from 1 to 3 years (9,95%). A comprehensive examination allowed to differentiate children with epileptic and nonepileptic paroxysms and to clarify their diagnoses. With a refined diagnosis of nonepileptic paroxysms, 210 patients were found. The results indicate the need for a thorough comprehensive examination of children suffering from paroxysmal disorders of consciousness to avoid erroneous diagnosis.