Biomaterial Database

Behavioural mechanisms involved in pseudo-epileptic seizures: a comparison between patients with epileptic seizures and patients with pseudo-epileptic seizures. 1997

A P Aldenkamp, and O G Mulder

Department of Behavioral Research and Psychological Services, Kempenhaeghe Heeze, The Netherlands.

The diagnosis of pseudo-epileptic seizures (PES) is confirmed in 7-10% of the patients that are considered to suffer from 'refractory epilepsies'. As yet no consistent model is available to explain the development of PES in individual patients. This open non-randomized clinical study aimed at assessing behavioural mechanisms that trigger PES, independent of the underlying personality characteristics. Twenty-four patients with PES were compared with pairwise matched patients that suffered exclusively from genuine epileptic seizures (ES). The patients were assessed with two personality inventories that measured potential important behavioural mechanisms: the 19 PF-form B of the Cattell IPAT Anxiety Scale and the Dutch ABV-scale, largely based on Eysenck's Maudsley Personality Inventory. This assessment was complemented with individual history taking and psychiatric examination. The results are presented in a model in which three factors are involved that have a combined effect on the development of PES in individual patients: personality disorders (of heterogeneous origin), the behavioural mechanism of somatization and a familiarity with epilepsy as a modifying factor.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D008991	Monitoring, Physiologic	The continuous measurement of physiological processes, blood pressure, heart rate, renal output, reflexes, respiration, etc., in a patient or experimental animal; includes pharmacologic monitoring, the measurement of administered drugs or their metabolites in the blood, tissues, or urine.	Patient Monitoring,Monitoring, Physiological,Physiologic Monitoring,Monitoring, Patient,Physiological Monitoring
D010554	Personality Disorders	A major deviation from normal patterns of behavior.	Avoidant Personality Disorder,Impulse-Ridden Personality,Inadequate Personality,Avoidant Personality Disorders,Impulse Ridden Personality,Personality Disorder,Personality Disorder, Avoidant,Personality Disorders, Avoidant,Personality, Impulse-Ridden,Personality, Inadequate
D010555	Personality Inventory	Check list, usually to be filled out by a person about himself, consisting of many statements about personal characteristics which the subject checks.	Edwards Personal Preference Schedule,Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,Indicator, Myers-Briggs Type,Inventories, Personality,Inventory, Personality,Myers Briggs Type Indicator,Personality Inventories
D011594	Psychometrics	Assessment of psychological variables by the application of mathematical procedures.	Psychometric
D011602	Psychophysiologic Disorders	A group of disorders characterized by physical symptoms that are affected by emotional factors and involve a single organ system, usually under AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM control. (American Psychiatric Glossary, 1988)	Psychosomatic Disorders,Psychophysiological Disorders,Psychophysiologic Disorder,Psychophysiological Disorder,Psychosomatic Disorder
D003937	Diagnosis, Differential	Determination of which one of two or more diseases or conditions a patient is suffering from by systematically comparing and contrasting results of diagnostic measures.	Diagnoses, Differential,Differential Diagnoses,Differential Diagnosis
D004569	Electroencephalography	Recording of electric currents developed in the brain by means of electrodes applied to the scalp, to the surface of the brain, or placed within the substance of the brain.	EEG,Electroencephalogram,Electroencephalograms
D004827	Epilepsy	A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p313)	Aura,Awakening Epilepsy,Seizure Disorder,Epilepsy, Cryptogenic,Auras,Cryptogenic Epilepsies,Cryptogenic Epilepsy,Epilepsies,Epilepsies, Cryptogenic,Epilepsy, Awakening,Seizure Disorders