ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC ABNORMALITIES IN CHILDREN WITH BREATH-HOLDING

SUMMARY This study was planned to determine the EEG abnormalities in the intervals of breath-holding (BH) spells. The subject population of this cross-sectional case-control study consisted of 24 children aged 6 to 24 months with BH followed at the outpatient clinics of Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine from August 1999 to June 2000 and 21 age and sex matched controls. Hydroxyzine-induced sleep EEG patterns were assessed. An unusually high percentage (37.5 %) of the children with BH had epileptiform EEG abnormalities. The fact that the majority of the patients with abnormal EEG displayed centrotemporal and centroparietal discharges as seen in benign rolandic epilepsy of childhood (BREC) suggested a link between these two disorders. Key Words: Breath-holding, EEG, rolandic epilepsy OZET BREATH HOLDING NOBET TANISI ILE TAKIP EDILEN COCUKLARDA GOZLENEN EEG BOZUKLUKLARI Bu calisma breath-holding nobetleri arasindaki donemlerde ortaya cikan EEG degisikliklerini belirlemek amaciyla planlandi. Kesitsel bir vaka kontrol calismasi olan calismamiza Mersin Universitesi Cocuk Sagligi ve Hastaliklari poliklinigine Agustos 99- Haziran 2000 tarihleri arasinda ayaktan basvuran ve breath-holding nobeti olan 6 ay 2 yas arasi, 24 cocuk ve yas grubu uyumlu olan 21 saglikli kontrol alindi. Hidroksizin ile uyutularak cekilen EEG paternleri degerlendirildi. Hastalarimizda yuksek oranda (% 37.5) epileptiform EEG anormalligi saptandi. Anormal EEG bulgulari olan hastalardaki patolojilerin cogunlugunu, cocukluk caginin benign rolandik epilepsilerinde (BREC) gozlenen santrotemporal ve santroparyetal tipte desarjlarin olusturmasi bu iki patoloji arasinda baglanti olabilecegini dusundurdu. Anahtar kelimeler: Breath-holding, EEG, rolandik epilepsi