COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF EEGs WITH AND WITHOUT SLEEP DEPRIVATION IN DIAGNOSIS OF CHILDHOOD EPILEPSY

Seizure is the most common neurologic disorder in the pediatric age. Obtaining thorough history and performing complete examination as well as electroencephalography (EEG) are very important in confirming the diagnosis and finding the cause. Epileptiform activity may be enhanced by activating procedures including sleep deprivation. In this study we performed short duration (up to 8 hours) sleep deprivation in 139 children with history of seizure but with normal or non specific awake EEG. We obtained 70% abnormality, 54% of which was of classic pattern of absence (3 Hz spike and slow wave). Most abnormal EEGs belonged to children in the age range of 5-10 yrs. It seems that short duration sleep deprivation is as useful as long duration sleep deprivation.