Differential diagnosis of staring spells in children: A video-EEG study

Staring is frequently a nonepileptic manifestation in children. To differentiate epileptic versus nonepileptic staring, we reviewed clinical and video-EEG findings in 143 patients, aged 5 months to 43 years, monitored for staring episodes, In 79 patients staring was of epileptic origin; 46 had partial seizures and 33 atypical absence, Thirty-five had behavioral staring, 8 psychogenic seizures, 1 a migraine equivalent, and in 20 no staring spells were recorded, In all patients with epileptic staring, epilepsy was suspected clinically. Only 22 of the admissions for behavioral staring and 3 for pseudoseizures were to exclude a possible nonepileptic phenomenon, Review of their clinical histories revealed that certain findings strongly support a nonepileptic origin. In conclusion, a careful clinical history will differentiate between epileptic and nonepileptic staring episodes in most patients, Video-monitoring is helpful to adjust treatment or to exclude nonepileptic events in patients with refractory staring spells.