Diagnosing Electrical Status Epilepticus in Sleep

Cutout from a 35s long spike-wave-complex during REM sleep with a frequency of three Hertz. _moep_, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES) is an electrographic pattern in which epileptiform activity is dramatically activated by sleep. The classic measure used to identify ESES is the spike-wave index expressed as a percentage. However, there is disagreement on the best way to quantify the sleep-activated epileptiform activity and the portion of sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) used for spike-wave index calculations. In a recent study, researchers from Nationwide Children’s demonstrated that the spike-wave index of the first 100 seconds of sleep can be a reliable tool for the diagnosis of ESES.

Read more about the study at Pediatrics Nationwide: A More Efficient Method for Diagnosing Electrical Status Epilepticus in Sleep?