Epileptic Seizures Imitating Nonepileptic Paroxysmal Events

Short Description

Some Epileptic Seizures occur with such an unusual semiology that they imitate paroxysmal nonepileptic events. In all patients who are diagnosed with psychogenic events felt to reflect a conversion disorder, approximately 10–15% ultimately prove to be caused by a neurological condition (Hurwitz and Pritchard 2006). Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are the most common mimics of epileptic seizures and account for 4% of patients with epilepsy. While nonepileptic paroxysmal “spells” or PNES (formerly known as pseudoseizures) are probably much more likely to be misdiagnosed as epileptic seizures, with certain types of epileptic seizures, they may be more often misidentified as psychogenic (Saygi et al. 1992). Focal seizures are the seizure type most often confused with paroxysmal nonepileptic events because of their non-convulsive, at times atypical, and occasionally bizarre semiology. Confusion between epileptic seizures and their behavioral mimics that are...