This study compared psychiatric factors and diagnoses in patients with
pseudoepileptic seizures and genuine seizures. A semistructured interview
identified psychiatric diagnosis and the presence of psychiatric factors
associated with conversion phenomena. Twenty-five subjects with medically
refractory seizures were interviewed and followed prospectively until a
definitive diagnosis of pseudoepileptic or genuine seizures was made by
neurologists using video-EEG telemetry. Four factors help to identify
patients with pseudoepileptic seizures: a psychiatric diagnosis of either
somatization disorder or personality disorder, the presence of a childhood
loss, or the presence of a model for seizure symptoms. These findings can
aid clinicians in identifying patients who would benefit from referral to a
video-EEG telemetry diagnostic unit.Abstract Teaser