Introduction: Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS) is one of the benign epilepsies found in childhood. Some papers have shown that patients can present behavioural disorders and learning difficulties.
Aims: To review patients diagnosed with PS in our hospital and to check whether they display evidence of such disorders and if there is any specific feature that allows high-risk patients to be identified.
Patients and methods: A retrospective review of the medical records of patients diagnosed with PS was carried out. An electroencephalogram (EEG) or video-EEG-polygraph recordings were performed on all patients during sleep. The Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children was used to evaluate intelligence.
Results: Data were collected for 33 patients, 17 of whom were children. The mean age at onset was 3.2 years and the follow-up was 4.9 years (range: 1-12 years). Irritative EEG phenomena were detected in the occipital (67.7%), temporal (45.2%) or parietal regions (22.5%) in 31 patients. Furthermore, 72.7% of patients presented more than two seizures. Twenty-three patients required treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Two patients were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Additionally, 30.3% reported dispersed attention and 27.3% had an impulsive character. It was found that 51.1% had a good level of academic achievement, in 26.5% it was regular and in 17.6% poor. A total of 39.4% needed assistance in the form of after-school classes. The level of intelligence was evaluated in 11 patients.
Conclusion: PS is a condition with a good prognosis, but seems to be associated to learning and behavioural disorders.