PATIENTS WITH SEVERE
DISABILITY AND PATHOLOGICAL EEG WITHOUT SEIZURES: DO THEY BENEFIT FROM THERAPY WITH VPA?
El-Hamid S, Bergmann PhR
Children¡¯s Hospital,
51545 Waldbrol, Germany
Objective: To prove the
therapeutic effect of VPA in patients with severe disability and
pathological EEG without clinical manifestations of epilepsy.
Methods: We treated 8 patients
with different types of severe disability (3 with post-hemorrhagic
hydrocephalus, 3 with tetraplegia and 3 with severe mental retardation of
unknown etiology). All of these patients had a pathological EEG and signs
of multiple spike wave complexes, none of them have had epileptic seizures.
Results: With the therapy of VPA
we found normalisation of the EEG. The level of consciousness, the mental and
the neurologic status of most of patients had been positively influenced.
Conclusion: Patients with severe
disability which have EEG abnormalities without seizures may benefit from
VPA therapy.