Functional seizures are not less important than epilepsy

Ali A Asadi-Pooya; Francesco Brigo; Benjamin Tolchin; Kette D Valente

doi:10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100495

Functional seizures are not less important than epilepsy

Epilepsy Behav Rep. 2021 Oct 21:16:100495. doi: 10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100495. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ali A Asadi-Pooya^{1

2}, Francesco Brigo³, Benjamin Tolchin⁴, Kette D Valente⁵

Affiliations

¹ Epilepsy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
² Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Department of Neurology, Hospital of Merano (SABES-ASDAA), Merano-Meran, Italy.
⁴ Yale Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁵ Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Psychiatry, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (HCFMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Functional seizures (FS) are frequently encountered in neurology clinics, often affect young adults, and have significant negative impacts on many aspects of a person's life. In the current narrative review, we searched the literature regarding some of the consequences of FS (i.e., psychiatric comorbidities, social consequences, costs that are associated with the condition, cognitive impairment in patients with FS, the quality of life of the people with FS, and the increased risk of mortality that is associated with FS). Evidence shows that FS have significant negative consequences, comparable in their magnitude to those affecting patients with epilepsy. The clinical and scientific communities should take steps to address these consequences through clinical care and research that prioritizes, facilitates, and expedites evidence-based diagnosis and treatment for FS.

Keywords: Dissociative; EEG; Epilepsy; Psychogenic; Seizure.

Publication types

Review