Researchers examined 1567 patient medical records from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Adult EMU and found a 5.2% prevalence rate of coexisting epilepsy/psychogenic nonepileptic spells (PNES). Other findings include:
· Epileptic seizures were preceded by a PNES event in 94.4% of epilepsy/PNES patients
· Patients with epilepsy/PNES had a higher presence of epilepsy risk factors
· Abnormal brain MRI and abnormal neurological examination were more common in the epilepsy/PNES group.
Chen-Block S, Abou-Khalil BW, Arain A, et al. Video-EEG results and clinical characteristics in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic spells: the effect of a coexistent epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2016;62:62-65.
