• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) had been debated whether it is ictal or non-ictal phenomenon. As most of PLEDs occur in patients with acute structural lesions, some epileptologists prefer PLEDS as a non-ictal phenomenon, rather an obscure epiphenomenon of etiological diseases. But, almost half of the patients with PLEDs do not have acute structural lesions in the brain and metabolic disorders or old CNS lesions may cause PLEDs and even more, no brain lesion was identified in some patients. There are many data supporting PLEDs as ictal phenomena. Occurrence of PLEDs usually accompanied by decreased mentality and is improved as PLEDs disappeared. Current SPECT study showed marked hyperperfusion in the lesion side of PLEDs, that is striking evidence of PLEDs as ictal phenomena. Also careful review of EEG with PLEDs revealed it is a dynamic process rather than a static state. Despite of these evidences, as PLEDs are an end-stage of animal status epilepticus models, it may be a transition of ictal to interictal state.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.26-30
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• 2011

Although the pathophysiologic mechanism is unknown, there has been long-running debate on whether periodic discharges such as periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) and generalized periodic epileptiform discharges are an ictal or interictal EEG pattern. The goal of this review is to give evidence that such periodic discharges on EEG are not ictal phenomenon and just represent underlying acute brain damage. This review includes coma with epileptiform EEG pattern and its prognostic and therapeutic implications. Based on previous reports, rather than taking the view PLEDs represent either an underlying ictal process or an electrographic correlate of neuronal injury, it would be more reasonable that PLEDs are considered as a dynamic pathophysiological state in which unstable neurobiological processes create an ictal-interictal continuum.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.169-182
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• 2000

Purpose: To investigate the various ictal perfusion patterns and find the relationships between clinical factors and different perfusion patterns. Materials and Methods: Interictal and ictal SPECT and SPECT subtraction were performed in 61 patients with partial epilepsy. Both positive images showing ictal hyperperfusion and negative images revealing ictal hypoperfusion were obtained by SPECT subtraction The ictal perfusion patterns of subtracted SPECT were classified into focal hyperperfusion, hyperperfusion-plus, combined hyperperfusion-hypoperfusion, and focal hypoperfusion only. Results: The concordance rates with epileptic focus were 91.8% in combined analysis of ictal hyperperfusion and hypoperfusion images of subtracted SPECT, 85.2% in hyperperfusion images only of subtracted SPECT, and 68.9% in conventional ictal SPECT analysis. Ictal hypoperfusion occurred less frequently in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) than extratemporal lobe epilepsy. Mesial temporal hyperperfusion alone was seen only in mesial TLE while lateral temporal hyperperfusion alone was observed only in neocortical TLE. Hippocampal sclerosis had much lower incidence of ictal hypoperfusion than any other pathology. Some patients showed ictal hypoperfusion at epileptic focus with ictal hyperperfusion in the neighboring brain regions where ictal discharges propagated. Conclusion: Hypoperfusion as well as hyperperfusion in ictal SPECT should be considered for localizing epileptic focus. Although the mechanism of ictal hypoperfusion could be an intra-ictal early exhaustion of seizure focus or a steal phenomenon by the propagation of ictal discharges to adjacent brain areas, further study is needed to elucidate it.