Self-esteem and psychiatric features of Turkish adolescents with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: a comparative study with epilepsy and healthy control groups.

OBJECTIVE: Children and adolescents with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) and epilepsy are known to have psychosocial problems. The aim of the present study was to compare the psychosocial difficulties, history of stressful life events/abuse, psychiatric diagnosis, and self-esteem of adolescents with PNES to the ones with epilepsy and healthy controls at a tertiary care center in Turkey. METHOD: Thirty-four adolescents with PNES diagnosed by video-EEG were compared with 23 adolescents that have epilepsy and 35 healthy volunteers. Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses of participants were examined by semi-structured interviews using Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (KSADS-PL). Self-esteem of adolescents was evaluated by Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES). RESULTS: No differences in sociodemographic features were observed between the groups. The PNES group showed significantly higher rates of parental conflicts, difficulties in relationship with siblings/peers, school under-achievement, and history of stressful events/abuse. The rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders were 64.7% in PNES and 47.8% in epilepsy group. The most common disorders in both groups were attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depressive disorder. The rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was significantly increased in the PNES group. Additionally, adolescents with PNES displayed significantly lower levels of self-esteem than the other groups. CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that both disorders involved a high risk for developing psychiatric disorders; additionally, adolescents with PNES have higher rates of stressors and lower levels of self-esteem. Findings from this investigation point to the importance of psychiatric interventions in pediatric PNES and also epilepsy.

Sturge-Weber syndrome involved frontoparietal region without facial nevus.

Classic Sturge-Weber syndrome is characterized by a facial nevus and hamartomatous lesion in the brain. Hamartomatous lesions are usually located in the ipsilateral occipital region of the facial nevus. The other lobes may be involved. A few cases of Sturge-Weber syndrome without facial nevus have been reported. A 9-month-old male was admitted with the complaint of afebrile seizures two times. We observed the third seizure, which was complex partial, in the clinic. There was no facial hemangioma. On computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain we observed findings concordant with the angioma in the right frontoparietal region, although the occipital region was intact. This patient appears to be the first with Sturge-Weber syndrome without facial nevus, and with involvement of the frontoparietal region but not the occipital region. We do not know the embryologic basis of this association.

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome.

We reported five cases of Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome (DDMS) with different clinical and radiological findings. The evaluated parameters were the location of the lesions, midline structural shift effect, pathological and morphological changes on the ipsilateral calvarium, paranasal sinuses and mesencephalon, presence of compensatory contralateral hypertrophy. With the help of both magnetic resonance (MR) and computerized tomography (CT) images, changing degrees of all the evaluated parameters were observed in all five of our patients. In conclusion, no relationship was found between parenchymal and calvarial changes and between the time after onset of the disease and amount of the morphologic and pathological changes.