The relationship of interictal epileptiform discharges to clinical epilepsy severity: a study of routine electroencephalograms and review of the literature.

Electroencephalograms are widely used to detect interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in patients with a known history of seizures. However, previous studies have not found a consistent association between the presence or frequency of IEDs and clinical epilepsy severity, possibly because of differences in subject characteristics and recording techniques. We sought to investigate this relationship in a population and setting reflective of the most common clinical usage.

Sleep spindle alterations in patients with malformations of cortical development.

Malformations of cortical development are disorders of altered brain anatomy and architecture that arise from abnormalities in the usual processes of cerebral cortical development. Although they often lead to epilepsy, cognitive delay, and motor impairment, little is known about their effect on sleep. Since malformations may anatomically or functionally disrupt the cerebral circuits that mediate sleep spindles, we hypothesized that these disorders would be associated with abnormal spindle characteristics.