What is benign epilepsy in children with spikes in the central temporal region?

  Benign epilepsy in children with spikes in the central temporal region (BECT), with seizures originating in the sensorimotor cortex and the perirhinal cortex, is also known as benign Rolandic epilepsy in children, and is the most common form of partial epilepsy in childhood. It has specific clinical manifestations and EEG features, and EEG is one of the important criteria for the diagnosis of BECT.  The typical seizure type is partial motor or sensory seizures, which mainly involve the face, oropharynx or one limb. The child may be conscious, but he or she may not be able to speak clearly. If the above seizures are present, the possibility of the disease should be highly suspected. Because BECT seizures are mostly in sleep and short-lived, they are often not detected by the family in time and are only seen when they generalize to generalized seizures.  The EEG is the fundamental basis for the diagnosis of this type of epilepsy, and the EEG during the interictal phase of BECT is characterized by normal background activity, normal sleep structures, and repeated single or clustered high amplitude negative or negative-positive biphasic spikes, spikes, or spike (spike) slow complex waves in the central-temporal region on one or both sides. The discharge may be confined to the central and/or temporal regions. These spikes or spike-slow waves may be synchronous or asynchronous in the central-temporal region, or they may spread from the central-temporal region to the frontal, parietal, and occipital regions, or they may migrate from one side to the opposite side, or both hemispheres. Abnormal discharges consistent with BECT are significantly more frequent in the sleep than in the waking period. BECT is the best prognosis among all kinds of benign epilepsy in children, and a correct and reasonable diagnosis can be made based on the age of onset, seizure form and characteristic EEG changes. Children with frequent seizures should be treated with antiepileptic therapy, especially in children with a long period of seizure activity at a young age of onset, and antiepileptic therapy should be administered as early as possible. The commonly used drugs are carbamazepine and sodium valproate, which can achieve satisfactory results, and most of them do not require high doses or multi-drug combinations.  It should be noted that clinical studies in recent years have shown that BECT clinical seizures have a relatively benign prognosis, but the prognosis in neuropsychological aspects is sometimes not optimistic, especially when there are persistent subclinical epileptic discharges, most of which are accompanied by impaired cognitive function and behavioral impairment, mostly manifested as poor learning, memory, and hands-on ability. Therefore, parents of children with epilepsy are reminded to regularly review the EEG and regularly follow up with their primary care physician.