EEG dipole characteristics in Panayiotopoulos syndrome

Purpose: Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS) is a type of benign childhood partial epilepsy that is frequently associated with abundant multifocal spikes other than main occipital spikes on the EEG. In this study, we investigated the characteristic features of dipoles in PS. Methods: We performed dipole analysis of the interictal occipital spike discharges seen in 10 children with PS (group A) and in 10 children with other types of symptomatic localization-related epilepsy (group B). We analyzed the dipoles of the averaged spike in each patient. Results: In group A, the averaged occipital spikes in each patient showed dense dipole locations in the mesial occipital area; in group B, widely scattered dipole locations were observed. In Group A, the geometric centers of the dipoles at each time point (such as at the main negative peak and before or after the main peak) were estimated in the neighboring locations. In contrast, they tended to be scattered in group B. Conclusions: Our study reveals that PS has high dipole stability, similar to that of rolandic epilepsy. From the electroencephalographic view, this seems to indicate a close link between these two syndromes.