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Pure photosensitive epilepsy

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Pure photosensitive epilepsy

This 14-year-old female was noticed to have brief “vacant spells” while watching television and with sunlight reflections. A sleep-awake video-EEG was performed with particular attention to relevant photic triggering factors. Typical spike-and-wave discharges were evoked during intermittent photic stimulation only. Note that during the brief spike-and-wave discharge, she stops overbreathing and counting, her eyes and head turn up and back, with concomitant and very brief impairment of consciousness. She responds immediately after the discharge. Before the second event, she is asked to close her eyes. (Contributed by Dr Athanasios Covanis.)

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  • Absences with single myoclonic jerks during the absence ictus
  • Childhood absence epilepsy
  • Epilepsy with myoclonic absences
  • Eyelid myoclonia and (with) absences (Jeavons syndrome)
  • Facial (perioral or eyebrow) myoclonia and absences
  • Generalized tonic-clonic seizures
  • Juvenile absence epilepsy
  • Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
  • Phantom absences
  • Symptomatic and cryptogenic absences
  • Typical absences with specific modes of precipitation (reflex absences)