Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures have long been known by many names. A short list includes hysteroepilepsy, hysterical seizures, pseudoseizures, nonepileptic events, nonepileptic spells, nonepileptic seizures, and psychogenic nonepileptic attacks. These events are typically misdiagnosed for years and are frequently treated as electrographic seizures and epilepsy. These patients experience all ...

Nonepileptic seizures can be difficult to distinguish from epileptic seizures: they may look exactly like epileptic seizures. The difference is that during a nonepileptic seizure, there are no abnormal electrical discharges in the brain of the type seen in epileptic seizures. Nonepileptic seizures can have many causes; however, the most common cause is a psychiatric illness. In these illnesses ...

Paroxysmal nonepileptic spells are often difficult to diagnose in pediatric patients owing to overlapping clinical features with epileptic seizures. A diagnosis of epilepsy is typically associated with pharmacologic and social sequelae, and an incorrect diagnosis can create an unnecessary burden highlighting the need for proper identification of paroxysmal nonepileptic spells. The adolescent po...

INTRODUCTION An assessment was made of general symptoms in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), comparing those who do versus those who do not accept the diagnosis. METHOD A questionnaire pilot study of newly diagnosed psychogenic nonepileptic seizure patients confirmed by video electroencephalography (EEG) was carried out, using a 59-item general symptom questionnaire, wit...

An 11-year-old, right-handed girl was admitted for video-EEG monitoring of nocturnal paroxysms consisting of eye opening, groans, right arm shaking, and altered consciousness (see video on the Neurology Web site at www.neurology.org). Ictal video-EEG suggested a left frontal seizure; subsequent behavioral disturbances including dysrhythmic right arm shaking and confusion continued without elect...

Nonepileptic seizures were recognized in antiquity, but their diagnosis continues to be challenging in the present day. The diagnosis of seizures as nonepileptic has been based on associated physical conditions, social factors, laboratory findings, or psychological test findings. Pitfalls remain in the use of electroencephalography. We present several case studies of representative etiologies t...

Seizures that cause loss of consciousness (LOC) can be classified as epileptic or nonepileptic based on evaluation of ictal semiology and analysis of changes in EEG events, recorded with continuous scalp EEG and video monitoring. We report 3 patients who had hippocampal electrographic seizures documented with intracranial EEG recording with no accompanying scalp EEG change immediately preceding...

PURPOSE Ictal behaviors during psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (NES) vary considerably among individuals, and can closely resemble common semiologies of epileptic seizures (ES). We tested the hypothesis that behaviors during NES in patients who have temporal spikes would more closely resemble behaviors during ES in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy than would behaviors during NES in patien...

The diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures has become easier with the assimilation of studies on the clinical categorization of seizure-like events (1), video EEG monitoring (2), measurement of serum prolactin (3), the selective use of neuropsychological tests (4), and various other diagnostic methods. Much less information is available to the clinician on what to do next. How should th...