Abstracts

Pseudo seizures are paroxysmal alterations in behavior that resemble seizures but are without any organic cause. The objective of this work is to analyze the underlying psychiatric pathology of patients with pseudoseizures in a general outpatient clinic. A retrospective study of patients that underwent EEG due to a suspicion of pseudo seizures was realized. The clinical history, psychiatry diagnosis and EEG NONITORING were reviewed in sixteen patients (M/F: 10/6), middle age 40,6 years. All of them were studied by EEG monitoring, pseudoseizures seizures were recorded in 10 of these 16 patients, the other six had a high clinical suspicion. In 8 patients coexisted the pseudoseizures with epilepsy, 1 had migraine, 1 was diagnosed o syncopes, the rest of them did not have a clear epilepsy diagnosis. Four patients did not have a clear psychiatric pathology. Five patients were malingering with clear secondary gain. One of the subjects admitted self-induced illness and spontaneously improved after video EEG monitoring. The others ameliorated after retirement from their work. One patient had Alcohol Dependence. Four patients had an Anxiety Disorder NOS, 1 was a Depressive Disorder, 1 patient had an Impulse-Control Disorder NOS, 7 patients were diagnosed of different Personality Disorder, all of those patients were women. The women improved when the socio familial circumstances changed. Men experienced some change when social aspects were modified. The women with pseudoseizures had been diagnosed basically of Personality Disorders. Men had secondary gain, or no clear psychiatric diagnosis. In this study we verify the importance of a psychiatric management to obtain adequate pseudoseizures control.