Neuropsychological testing may help differentiate epileptic seizures from psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) according to a study that evaluated data from 72 patients with epilepsy and 33 patients with PNES.
- In the past, psychometric testing has been shown to have limited utility in differentiating PNES from epileptic seizures.
- The new research suggests that multivariate assessment using several psychological tests is more effective in making the differential diagnosis.
- Using logistic regression, investigators found that a combination of 7 neuropsychological tests accurately classified about 85% of patients.
- The researchers acknowledged that video-EEG monitoring remains the gold standard for separating PNES from epileptic seizures but suggest that a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests may improve the clinical decision-making process.
Tyson BT, Baker S, Greenacre M, et al. Differentiating epilepsy from psychogenic nonepileptic seizures using neuropsychological test data. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;87:39-45.
