Scalp-recorded high-frequency oscillations in childhood epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-and-wave during sleep with different etiologies

• DOI: 10.1016/j.braindev.2017.12.010
• Publication Date: 2018-01-04T16:05:39Z
• Authors: Pan Gong; Jiao Xue; Ping Qian; Haipo Yang; Xiaoyan Liu; Lixin Cai; Kaigui Bian; Zhixian Yang
• Keywords: Etiology; Spike-and-wave

To investigate high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) in epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-and-wave during sleep (CSWS) with different etiologies.Twenty-one CSWS patients treated with methylprednisolone were divided into structural group and genetic/unknown group. Comparisons were made between the two etiological groups: selected clinical variables including gender, age parameters, seizure frequencies and antiepileptic drugs; distribution of HFOs in pre-methylprednisolone electroencephalography (EEG) and percentage changes of HFOs and spikes after methylprednisolone treatment.There were 7 patients (33%) in structural group and 14 patients (68%) in genetic/unknown group. No significant difference was found between the two groups regarding selected clinical variables. HFOs were found in 12 patients in pre-methylprednisolone EEG. The distribution of HFOs was focal and accordant with lesions in 5 of structural group, and it was also focal but in different brain regions in 7 of genetic/unknown group. The percentage reduction of total HFOs and spikes was 81% (158/195) and 19% (1956/10,037) in structural group, while 98% (315/323) and 55% (6658/12,258) in genetic/unknown group after methylprednisolone treatment.The etiologies had no distinct correlation with some clinical characteristics in CSWS. HFOs recorded on scalp EEG might not only be used as makers of seizure-onset zone (SOZ), but also have association with functional disruption of brain networks. Both HFOs and spikes reduced more in genetic/unknown patients than that in structural patients after methylprednisolone treatment and HFOs were more sensitive to treatment than spikes.