Tactile-evoked rolandic discharges: a benign finding?

Full Abstract

PURPOSE:
This retrospective study was undertaken to determine if patients having tactile-evoked rolandic discharges were a more "benign" patient population than those with spontaneously occurring nontactile rolandic discharges and to determine whether the presence of tactile-evoked rolandic discharges was a marker for the future development of epilepsy, as previously reported.

METHODS:
During this 8-year study, 304 patients were seen with rolandic discharges. These patients all had tactile stimulation of their hands and/or feet. They formed two groups:
patients with spontaneous rolandic discharges that could not be evoked by tactile stimulation (NT) and patients with spontaneous rolandic discharges that could be enhanced with tactile stimulation (TE). Over a 14-month period, every patient had tactile stimulation of both hands and both feet, resulting in a third group of patients having rolandic discharges seen only with tapping (TO).

RESULTS:
Tactile-enhanced discharges constituted 38.2% of all rolandic discharges. Patients with TE and TO discharges had a higher incidence of normal development and intelligence, normal neurologic examinations, and a lower incidence of seizures and focal or generalized background abnormalities on their EEGs. Only one patient with normal background and no coexisting epileptiform abnormalities had partial motor seizures with corresponding contralateral central discharges. Only two patients who had no seizures at the time of their first EEG subsequently went on to develop seizures. Neither fit the pattern of the seizure disorder described in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS:
It is hypothesized that tactile-evoked rolandic discharges are a benign, age-related phenomenon, which do not represent a marker for the future development of epilepsy and are not the interictal electrographic correlate to an already existing seizure disorder.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Langill, Lisa (L); Wong, Peter K H (PK);

Affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Neurophysiology, British Columbia's Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Epilepsia (Epilepsia), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 44 (issue 2) : pp 221-7

Dates: Created 2003/01/31; Completed 2003/09/09; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12558578, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology
Child
Child, Preschool
Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; physiopathology
Electroencephalography
Epilepsy, Reflex - diagnosis; physiopathology
Epilepsy, Rolandic - diagnosis; physiopathology
Evoked Potentials - physiology

Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Infant
Intelligence - physiology
Male
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Touch - physiology

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.