Background:
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) demonstrate important differences in
terms of younger and older patients. Most patients experience the first PNES
episode between 10 and 19 years with delayed diagnosis. An example to PNES
semiology in adults was displayed in a study carried in Prague, Czech Republic
(Nežádal and colleagues in 2011), and an example for the semiology of PNES in
pediatric age was shown in another study, carried on subjects less than 18
years of age, in Budapest, Hungary (Szabó and colleagues in 2012). Objective: We
aimed at displaying the semiologies of our sample group (adults and children)
and that of two similar studies. Methods: Using Video EEG, we analyzed
different semiologic elements of non-epileptic events in an Egyptian sample
(adults and children). Results: Eye closure sign was the most frequent
occurring semiologic element in both children and adults. Conclusion: Closer
semiology was noticeable among adults more than among children. The complexity
of seizures increases with age. This was suggested in an earlier study and this
work agrees with this suggestion. [Egypt
J Neurol Psychiat Neurosurg. 2014; 51(2): 133-136]
Key Words: PNES
semiology, PNES in childhood and adulthood, VEEG in PNES
Correspondence to
Ann A. Abdel Kader, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology Unit, Cairo University, Egypt. Tel.: +201006063114. Email:
ann.abdelkader@yahoo.com.