Abstracts

Rationale: The aim of the paper is to investigate psychiatric and cognitive profiles of patients with epilepsy compared to patients with PNES and patients with epilepsy associated to PNES. Methods Methods: We evaluated 34 consecutive inpatients (admitted for video-EEG monitoring): 20 epileptic patients (group I), 10 patients with PNES (group II) and 4 patients with epilepsy associated to PNES (group III). All patients were screened for Axis I (psychiatric disorders) and Axis II (personality disorders) with two clinical semi-structured interviews. Results: All patients with PNES (group II + III) presented a psychiatric diagnosis (100%) compared to 50% of patients with epilepsy. In group I (n=20): 10 patients (50%) presented a psychiatric comorbidity (Axis I, Axis II or Axis I + Axis II). We found a psychiatric disorders (Axis I) in 8 (40%) patients of group I, 7 (70%) in group II and 2 (50%) in group III. In the three groups, respectively: 3 patients (15%) vs 5 (50%) vs 3 (75%) met criteria for personality disorders. Cluster B and C personality traits are more common in patients with PNES (group II + III). Only patients with PNES presented Cluster B personality disorders. We did not observe any mood disorders in patients with PNES, on the contrary we noted compared to 25% of mood disorders in patients with epilepsy. There were no significant differences among the three groups on neuropsychological test. Conclusions: From a psychiatric standpoint PNES are heterogeneous disorders. Patients with PNES had a higher incidence of psychiatric disorder compared to patients without PNES. We did not observe any mood disorders in patients with PNES, on the contrary we noted compared to 25% of mood disorders in patients with epilepsy (p<0.05). Personality disorders are more frequent in patients with PNES compared to patients with epilepsy.