Wicket spikes: a case-control study of a benign eletroencephalografic variant pattern

RESUMO

Wicket spikes (WS) are a benign eletroencephalogram (EEG) variant, seen mainly in adults, during sommolence, in the temporal regions, in many clinical situation. WS can appear in trains or isolatedly, sometimes being difficult to differentiate from epileptiform activity. We reviewed 2.000 EEG's, foud 65 with WS (3.25 per cent) and compared them with 65 normal EEG without WS. There was statistically significant (SS) association between WS and age over 33; adolescent age was correlated to absence of WS and age over 65, to the presence of WS; there was an inverse correlation between WS and epilepsy, related to differences in age; a SS association with cerebrovascular disorders disapeared after controling for age; a SS correlation with headache was also related to age; female predominance was not SS. There was a great variety of clinical situation associated with WS. We conclude that WS are a inespecific normal variant of the EEG that is age-related.