Rolandic Spikes in Children with and without Epilepsy (20 Subjects Polygraphically Studied During Sleep)

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Abstract
The nocturnal sleep of 20 neurologically normal children with typical centrotemporal spikes was studied. The children were divided into 2 groups: (A) 10 children with centrotemporal spikes and benign epilepsy and (B) 10 children with centrotemporal spikes without epilepsy. The mean age when the average period of sleep record was performed was the same for the 2 groups, 8.5 yr. The cyclic organization of sleep and the percentages of the different stages were normal in all 20 subjects. The number of spikes was counted in all the subjects during wakefulness and during different stages of sleep. All subjects of both groups showed an important increase in the frequency of spikes going from drowsiness until slow sleep, but the activity remained high during REM [rapid eye movement] sleep only for subjects of group A. Other differences between the 2 groups concerned the appearance during sleep of generalized spike waves and independent Rolandic spikes. The polygraphic study of nocturnal sleep in children with Rolandic spikes can be an additional parameter for differential diagnosis between children with and those without epilepsy.