Sigfrid Blom

Effects of intravenous progesterone infusions on the epileptic discharge frequency in women with partial epilepsy.

ABSTRACT— Earlier work showed that in a group of women suffering from partial epilepsy, there is a decrease in seizure frequency during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Moreover, iv progesterone infusions decrease the discharge frequency from penicillin epileptic foci in cats, when given in doses that reach plasma concentrations as observed during pregnancy.

Benign epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal EEG foci: a genetic study.

Nineteen probands with benign epilepsy of childhood and centrotemporal EEG foci (rolan‐dic discharges), 36 of their full parents, and 34 full siblings were included in a genetic study. In these sibships (excluding probands), 15% (5/34) had seizures and rolandic discharges, and 19% (6/32) had rolandic discharges alone. Of the full parents, 11% (5/38) had seizures in childhood but none in adult life. Only 1 parent (3%) of 36 had rolandic discharges. There was no difference with sex. The results were tested against different genetic hypotheses and indicate that an autosomal dominant gene with age‐dependent penetrance is responsible for the EEG trait.

Benign Epilepsy of Children with Centro-temporal EEG Foci. Prevalence and follow-up study of 40 patients*

A 10 year material of patients with centro‐temporal EEG foci and seizures was studied retrospectively. 94 patients were found, all children. Estimates of the prevalence in the geographical area under study showed that this type of epilepsy with the accompanying EEG changes is about seven times more common than petit mal.

Incidence of epilepsy in children: a follow-up study three years after the first seizure.

A prospective epidemiological study of the incidence of epilepsy was performed in a Swedish county. The population studied during the incidence period consisted of 52,252 children âged 0–15 years. Seventy‐four children who had had their first seizure during the period February 1, 1973‐January 31, 1974 were reexamined 3 years later. Forty‐three children were classified as having epilepsy at the follow‐up, which gives an incidence of 82/100,000. The most frequent types of epilepsy found were: primary generalized epilepsy, 12/43 (27.9%); partial epilepsies, 11/43 (25.6%); and benign epilepsy of childhood with cen‐trotemporal discharges, 11/43 (25.6%). The prognostic significance of the initial EEG findings in the group with primary generalized epilepsy was low: no differences were found between the number of children who had further seizures and the number of children who had one seizure only. On the basis of clinical and EEG findings some groups tended to run a greater risk of developing recurrent seizures than others. These risk groups were children with perinatal complications or cerebral malformations and psychomotor retardation, children with partial seizures, children with absences and 3/sec spike‐and‐wave discharges, and children with benign epilepsy of childhood.

Benign epilepsy of children with centrotemporal EEG foci. A study of incidence rate in outpatient care.

The incidence rates of epileptic seizures and epileptic seizures with centre‐temporal (Ro‐landic) discharges were found to be 134/100,000 and 21/100,000, respectively. These were determined in an epidemiological study in a population consisting of 52,252 children aged 0–15 years in a county in the northern part of Sweden. Epileptic seizures with Rolandic discharges represented about 16% of all the epileptic seizures (febrile convulsions not included). They were four times more common than classic petit mal with 3/sec spike‐and‐wave activity.

Benign Epilepsy of Children with Centro‐Temporal EEG Foci. Discharge Rate During Sleep*

The discharge rate (the number of spikes/ min) was determined in the awake state and during different stages of induced sleep in 17 children with “benign epilepsy of childhood with centro‐temporal EE6 foci”. Ten patients had seizures only during sleep. The discharge rate of Rolandic spikes was significantly higher during sleep than during the awake state, and 5 patients had Rolandic discharges only during sleep. For diagnostic purposes, EEG recordings during sleep are indicated when children suspected of having this seizure type have a normal EEG when awake. Brief induced sleep is usually adequate. REM sleep was not studied.

Familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy – Type 1 A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY OF PERIPHERAL NERVE FUNCTION

Twenty‐four consecutive patients with familial amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (type 1), who were at different stages of the disease were investigated. The purpose was to report the electrophysiological features and to compare them with those found in other generalized neuropathies; 12 cases were familiar and 12 cases were sporadic. The diagnosis was confirmed by examining the occurrence of amyloid substance in rectal or skin biopsies or both. Single fiber EMG with fiber density determination showed signs of collateral innervation, prominent in advanced cases, and a disturbance of neuromuscular function similar to that of progressive spinal motorneurone diseases. Action potentials from afferent fibers were not obtained in 91 % of the nerves in the lower and 49 % of the nerves in the upper extremities. When sensory or motor action potentials were obtained, the conduction velocities were normal or slightly subnormal. The neurophysiological findings indicate a symmetrical axonal degeneration, starting in the legs.

Central Spikes or Sharp Waves (Rolandie Spikes) in Children's EEG and their Clinical Significance

Spikes or sharp waves appearing in the central region in children’s EEG (often called Rolandic spikes) are known as a fairly distinct EEG pattern. The characteristic features of these discharges have been described mainly in French neurophysiological. literature [I, 3, 4, 5, 61. A material consisting of 200 children was recently outlined by Smith & KeIlaway [8]. Even if it seems to be no matter of dispute about the way in which these discharges appear, much remains however to be known about their significance from the clinical and pathophysiological point of view. They were by Y. Gastaut [3] interpreted as “functional”, i.e. they were regarded as the expression of one for the prerolandic cortex specific type of reaction upon proprioceptive inflow. Y. Gastaut stressed that these potentials should not be considered as evidence of cortical lesions with actual or possible epileptogenic properties. However, some surveys clearly’ show that they do not seldom occur also in patients actually having seizures. In the course of a survey of a material of children’s EEG we were concerned also with focal abnormalities of the “epilepto-

Motor conduction velocities in newborn infants of various gestational ages.

The motor conduction velocities, in the ulnar and peroneal nerves of newborn infants, of various postmenstrual ages were studied. It was found that:

Effects of amobarbital and methohexital on epileptic activity in mesial temporal structures in epileptic patients. An EEG study with depth electrodes.

Abstract– Bilateral intracarotidal Amytal (amobarbital) tests for evaluation of speech and memory function were performed during preoperative evaluation of 30 patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy. In 8 of these patients (16 tests), having partial complex epilepsy, EEG was recorded with depth electrodes, implanted bilaterally in anterior mesial temporal structures. The EEGs during 13 tests could be quantified with regard to spike activity. A rapid increase in spike frequency was observed ipsilateral to the injection in all tests but one. No seizure activity or clinical seizures were provoked.