TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Prevalence of nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy in the adult population of Bologna and Modena, Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
JO  - Sleep
A1  - Vignatelli, Luca
A1  - Bisulli, Francesca
A1  - Giovannini, Giada
A1  - Licchetta, Laura
A1  - Naldi, Ilaria
A1  - Mostacci, Barbara
A1  - Rubboli, Guido
A1  - Provini, Federica
A1  - Tinuper, Paolo
A1  - Melett, Stefano
SP  - 479
EP  - 485
VL  - 38
IS  - 3
N2  - STUDY OBJECTIVES:  To estimate the prevalence of nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (NFLE) in the adults of two areas of the Emilia-Romagna region (northeast Italy) and to describe the clinical features from a population-based perspective.    DESIGN:  Population-based retrospective cohort study including adults with NFLE.    SETTING:  Two areas of the Emilia-Romagna region: the city of Bologna (330,901 adult residents) and five districts of the province of Modena (424,007). Prevalence day: December 31, 2010.    PARTICIPANTS:  Patients with NFLE collected from multiple databases of neurologic hub centers of the districts involved. Diagnostic criteria: clinical history of sleep related bizarre motor attacks and videopolysomnographic recording confirming the typical features of NFLE. Inclusion criteria for prevalence calculation: residence in one of the two geographic areas on the prevalence day and an "active" or "in remission with treatment" form of NFLE.    MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS:  Six subjects from Bologna and eight from Modena were included. Crude prevalence (per 100,000 residents) was 1.8 (95% confidence interval 0.7-4.0) in Bologna and 1.9 (0.8-3.7) in Modena. Similarly, the main clinical features were consistent: onset during adolescence (median age 11-13 y), mainly hyperkinetic seizures, nonlesional form in more than two-thirds of cases, an active form of epilepsy in more than two-thirds of cases. A family history of epilepsy was reported only for two patients.    CONCLUSIONS:  This epidemiologic study establishes that NFLE is a rare epileptic condition, fulfilling the definition for rare disease. Because of methodological limitations of our case ascertainment, the estimates we disclose must be considered the minimum prevalence.  © 2014 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.
LA  - en
SN  - 0161-8105
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -