A meta-analysis of 13 cohorts, comprising 794 patients, selected according to ILAE and other criteria from 525 publications on BECT, was conducted at Leiden University Hospital, Netherlands. Age at onset ranged from 3 months to 14 years, and age at last seizure ranged from 3 to 18 years. At an older age, the proportion of patients in remission was 0.9997. Despite this apparent excellent prognosis, the outcome of BECT in a child just developing seizures could not be determined satisfactorily from the meta-analysis, because of the retrospective design and unclear selection of patients studied. [1]
COMMENT. AED treatment was started in 81.6% of the patients in the above studies. The indications to start treatment were unclear, but included repeated seizures, especially occurring during waking hours. Relapses after AED withdrawal occurred in 14% of patients.
The functional organization of the interictal spike complex in benign rolandic epilepsy, also called BECT, was studied at the Universitatsklinik fur Neurologie, Donauspital; and Kinderklinik Glanzing, Vienna, Austria [2]. The interictal epileptiform spike complex is generated by multiple, simultaneously active neuronal populations within the central region.