Clinical and Functional Correlates of Manifestations of Epileptic Seizures in Children with Benign Epileptiform Patterns on Electroencephalogram

INTRODUCTION: The phenomena of age-dependent epileptiform patterns on the electroencephalogram (benign epileptiform discharges of childhood, BEDCs) are associated with a wide range of disorders: from the peculiarities of neuropsychological development of a child, self-limited age-dependent epilepsies to severe epileptic encephalopathies. AIM. To identify a complex of electroencephalographic and clinical correlates associated with epileptic seizures in patients with BEDCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 62 patients with BEDCs on the electroencephalogram (EEG) was conducted, including 40 boys and 22 girls (mean age 6.7 years). In 30 patients, epileptic seizures were absent (group 1), in 32 patients they were verified within certain epileptic syndromes (group 2). The subjects underwent video-electroencephalographic monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. To analyze the relationship of the identified parameters with the presence of epileptic seizures, classifications algorithms were created based on the artificial neural network technologies. RESULTS: Groups of patients with and without epileptic seizures did not differ in age and gender. In the group with epileptic seizures patients with age-dependent genetic focal epilepsy predominated, a reliably higher index of BEDCs (p = 0.001), predominance of the frontal-central localization of BEDCs (p = 0.031) and diffuse spread of BEDCs (p = 0.048) were identified. No reliable differences were found between the groups in the congenital somatic disorders of other spheres and in the character of neuropsychological disorders. The created models based on artificial neural networks (multilayer perceptron with 9 input neurons, 4 intermediate layer neurons and 2 output neurons) demonstrated good sensitivity (85%) and specificity (88%) in classifying patients into group 2. CONCLUSION: A complex of both neurophysiological and clinical-psychological characteristics of patients with BEDCs on EEG is associated with the presence of epileptic seizures within certain epileptic syndromes. Correlates of the presence of epileptic seizures in this category of patients are diffuse spread of BEDCs, their localization and index.