Panayiotopoulos Syndrome (Benign Occipital Epilepsy of Childhood)

Panayiotopoulos syndrome is a common benign idiopathic focal epilepsy of childhood that characteristically presents between 3 and 6 years of age.

Main Features

  • Autonomous crises: Seizures consist predominantly of autonomic symptoms such as nausea, emetic vomiting, pallor, mydriasis, and incontinence.
  • Long duration: It frequently presents as an autonomic state (seizures lasting more than 30 minutes), but with excellent long-term neurological prognosis.
  • Characteristic EEG: It shows multifocal spikes, predominantly occipital, of great amplitude that attenuate with eye opening.