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National General Practice Study

of Epilepsy (NGPSE):
Partial seizure patterns in a general population
M. Manford, MRCP; Y.M. Hart, MRCP; J.W.A.S. Sander, MD; and S.D. Shorvon, FRCP
(for the NGPSE)

Article abstract-The National General Practice Study of Epilepsy (NGPSE) is a prospective community-based study
of newly diagnosed epileptic seizures. Of 594 patients with definite epileptic seizures, 160 (26.9%)had seizures with a
clinically localizable onset: 36 (22.5%) frontal, 52 (32.5%) central sensorimotor, 43 (27%) temporal, nine (5.6%) fron-
totemporal, and 10 each (6.3%) parietal and other posterior cortex. There was no difference among these groups in
seizure frequency or remission rate; 46.5% were seizure free and 6.9% had severe epilepsy. Etiology was identifiable in
41% and focal CT and EEG abnormalities in 33% and 19%, with results discordant with the clinical seizure localization
in 21% and 20%. Temporal lobe epilepsy may be underreported, as it may be more difficult to localize clinically.
Extratemporal seizures are extremely common in the general population, especially frontal and central sensorimotor,
in relation to cerebrovascular disease. Prognoses are similar for partial epilepsies with different clinical patterns and
regions of onset and are much better than suggested in hospital-based studies. The clinical, EEG, and CT localizations
may frequently be discordant in this nonrefractory group.
NEUROLOGY 1992;42:1911-1917

Partial epilepsies are common and are the seizure notified the coordinating center of all patients over 1
category most likely t o be refractory t o current month old in whom a new diagnosis of definite or possi-
therapy; therefore, they are of prime clinical impor- ble epileptic seizures had been made. The practices were
located around the country in both urban and rural
tance. Conventionally, they are classified according areas, to avoid demographic sources of bias. Patients
t o proposed site of onset, and in the past much were followed up by the study a t 6 months, then at year-
emphasis was placed on those arising from the ly intervals. Follow-up t o date is from 4 t o 7 years.
temporal 10bes.l.~However, in recent years the sig- Details of hospital and specialist assessment and results
nificance of extratemporal seizures h a s been of investigations were also obtained. The study popula-
increasingly appreciated. In particular, it has been tion is thus an unselected cohort of patients with newly
recognized t h a t frontal lobe seizures4-11may be diagnosed epileptic seizures, identified at general popu-
responsible for a substantial proportion of partial lation level, in whom comprehensive clinical details have
seizures and may be a subgroup that is particularly been obtained. Considerable emphasis in the design of
difficult to treat.g Most studies, however, are con- the study was placed on avoiding the sources of selection
bias, in the identification of the study group, and in
ducted from referral centers and it is not clear to obtaining comprehensive clinical data from primary and
what extent this may reflect their practice and pat- secondary care sources. The study has been uniquely suc-
terns of referral. The National General Practice cessful in these regards.
Study of Epilepsy (NGPSE) is the largest reported A total of 1,195 patients was reported to the coordi-
prospective, population-based study of epilepsy12-14 nating center and these were classified by a panel, as
and provides an ideal opportunity to analyze the described previously.12 Of these, 104 were excluded
relative frequency of different seizure patterns in because of previously diagnosed epilepsy or neonatal
the general population, t o describe their clinical seizures and 79 were diagnosed as having nonepileptic
details and response to treatment, and to evaluate paroxysmal disorder, most commonly syncope o r psy-
EEG and CT and correlate these with clinical fea- chogenic episodes. A further 220 had febrile convulsions,
and 198 had possible but not definite epileptic seizures.
tures. The remaining 594 patients were classed as having defi-
nite epileptic seizures and are included in this analysis.
Methods. Details of the methods of the study have been This represents a small increase in the number of defi-
described e l s e ~ h e r e . l ~In- ' summary,
~ 275 general practi- nite cases of epileptic seizures in the NGPSE since previ-
tioners during a 3-year prospective recruitment phase ous reports13J4because of reclassification of some previ-

From the National General Practice Study of Epilepsy, Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy, Buckinghamshire, England.
Received December 30, 1991. Accepted for publication in final form March 12, 1992.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. M. Manford, NGPSE, Chalfont Centre f o r Epilepsy, Chalfont S t . Peter, Gerrards Cross,
Buckinghamshire, England, SL9 ORJ.

October 1992 NEUROLOGY 42 1911


Table 1. Features of seizures attributable to different regions

Age Definite Proba b1e


Clinical No. Male mean etiology etiology Seizure frequency
pattern (%I (%) (SD) (%) (%) A B c D E F

Frontal 36 (22.5) 67 38 (27) 10 (28) 8 (22) 1 15 11 4 3 2


Central 52 (32.5) 52 41 (29) 21 (40) 5 (10) 3 23 15 1 2 8
Frontotemporal 9 (5.6) 33 46 (26) l(11) 4 (33) 0 4 1 2 0 2
Temporal 43 (27) 49 40 (20) 4 (9) 2 (5) 1 20 14 2 3 3
Parietal 10 (6.3) 20 43 (19) 4 (40) 0 0 5 1 1 2 1
Posterior 10 (6.3) 50 42 (18) 4 (40) 2 (20) 0 5 2 1 1 1
Total (%I 160 51 40.6 44 (27.5) 21 (13) 4 (2.5) 72 (45) 44 (27.5) 11 (6.9) 11 (6.9) 17 (10.6)

A Single seizure.
B Seizure-free (minimum, 2 yr).
C Rare seizures (<4/yr).
D Moderate frequency (5-12/yr).
E Frequent seizures (>l2/yr).
F Unknown frequency.

Table 2. Abnormalities of investigations related to clinical Datterns

Clinical seizure pattern


Fronto-
Investigation Frontal Central temporal Temporal Parietal Posterior Unlocalized

EEG
Frontal 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Central 2 5 0 0 0 0 0
Frontotemporal 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Temporal 1 1 1 4 0 0 15
Parietal 0 0 0 0 1* 0 0
Posterior 0 0 0 0 1 I* 2
CT
Frontal 4 2 0 2 0 0 4
Central 1 5 0 0 0 0 0
Frontotemporal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Temporal 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
Parietal 0 1 0 0 2 1 0
Posterior 2 1 0 0 0 2, 1* 1
* Investigation lateralized opposite to clinical localization.

ously uncertain cases in the light of new data. Seizures intraobserver consistency of 90% were obtained.
were classified by the study panel12 into generalized and Interictal EEG abnormalities and lesions on CT were
l o c a l i z a t i o n - r e l a t e d categories, according t o t h e related to these seizure patterns, to assess concordance
International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classifica- between modes of investigation. EEG abnormalities were
tion of epilepsies and epileptic syndromes.15 This study considered focal only if there was localized spike or sharp
concerns patients with clinical evidence of partial seizure wave discharge; isolated slow wave abnormalities were
onset, including both those whose seizures remained excluded. Only where CT abnormalities were clearly
focal and those with generalization from a focal origin. focal, eg, tumor or focal atrophy, were they included.
These partial seizures were subdivided into six cate- Where CT or EEG crossed anatomic boundaries, they
gories of regional onset, according to clinical manifesta- were categorized into that region where the abnormality
tions, using criteria simplified from the ILAE classifica- was maximal. Investigations were considered discordant
tion of epileptic syndromes15 a n d s t a n d a r d textbook where there was clear separation of different modalities,
descriptions16 (appendix). Four were classical anatomic eg, a frontal lesion with a temporal seizure pattern, but
categories-frontal, temporal, parietal, and central sen- not a parietal lesion with a posterior seizure pattern. In
sorimotor-and two were “overlap categories”: frontotem- some cases, the clinical seizure pattern was unlocalized
poral, including seizures with both frontal and temporal but EEG or CT strongly suggested a focal abnormality.
f e a t u r e s t h a t could not clearly be allocated to one These cases were not included in the clinically defined
anatomic region, and posterior, with combinations of fea- partial seizures, but are included in the analysis of inves-
tures attributable to the occipital, parietal, or posterior tigative abnormalities as an important, “clinically unlo-
temporal lobes. A random sample of 42 cases (16.7%) was calized, localization-related subgroup.
reassessed by t h e same author and by another study Etiologic factors were identified from the history or
member; a n interobserver consistency of 95% and a n investigations and classified either as definitely signifi-
1912 NEUROLOGY 42 October 1992
zations of the 160 localizable patients: in 36 the
evidence pointed t o likely frontal onset, in 52 t o
CT EEG
Per- Foeal Dis- Per- Focal Dis-
central onset, in nine to frontotemporal onset, in 10
formed cordant formed abnormality cordant each to parietal and posterior onset, and in 43 to
(%) (%) (%) (%) (Yo) temporal onset. There were no differences in the
15 (42) 2 23 (64) 4 (17) 1 age or sex ratios of the patients in each group.
22 (42) 1 23 (44) 7 (30) 1 Of the patients in the frontal lobe seizure group,
6 (66) 0 6 (66) 2 (33) 0
30 (70) 2 38 (89) 4 (11) 0
12 had seizures with prominent posturing, strongly
6 (60) 0 7 (70) 2 (28) 1 suggestive of prominent supplementary motor area
7 (70) 1 10 (100) l(10) 1 involvement, and the remainder (24) experienced
86 (54) 6 (21) 107 (67) 20 (19) 4 (20)
combinations of complex motor activity, head ver-
sion, and tonic and clonic features suggestive of
other primary sites of frontal involvement.
Temporal lobe seizures manifested as predominant
olfactory or gustatory hallucination or both (seven
patients), experiential phenomena (nine patients),
abdominal manifestation or orofacial automatisms
or both (10 patients), auditory hallucination (one
patient), and combinations of the above in 16
cant, where there was clear causation, or as probably sig- patients. Parietal seizures manifested as localized
nificant, where data were suggestive but not conclusive paresthesias (four patients) or numbness or pain
or of uncertain relevance. For example, remote cranial (three patients each). The frontotemporal group
trauma was considered definitely significant where there
was clinical or imaging evidence of permanent cerebral
included combinations of autonomic manifestation,
damage, but was considered probably significant where complex motor activity, and abdominal features
there was a history of skull fracture with transient neu- (four patients), oroalimentary and complex motor
rologic impairment but of uncertain relevance where activity (four patients), and vertigo followed by
these factors were absent. complex motor activity (one patient). Posterior
Seizure frequencies were measured for the latest seizures included two with unformed visual hallu-
available year of follow-up o r for the entire follow-up cinations and four each with formed visual and
period if survival was less than 1 year. Patients were polymodal hallucinations.
classified as seizure free if there was a minimum of 2 Inuestigatiue abnormalities. Of the 160 patients
years without seizures at latest assessment. with clinically localized seizures, 149 (93%) attend-
ed the hospital, 107 (67%) underwent EEG, 86
Results. Clinical patterns. The ILAE classification (54%) underwent CT, and 38 (24%) had neither
of the epilepsies and epileptic syndromes15 was test. Table 1 shows the number of patients in each
applied t o the 594 patients with definite seizures group to undergo investigation and their results.
(table 1). Two hundred fifty-two were classified as Table 2 shows the relationship of clinical seizure
localization-related seizures on the basis of focal pattern t o investigative abnormality for those
clinical manifestations, focal EEG o r imaging patients with focal abnormalities. Patients in the
abnormalities, or a clinical history suggesting focal “clinically unlocalized with focal investiga-
cerebral pathology. This number differs slightly tive abnormalities are included.
from the original patient c a t e g o r i ~ a t i o n which
,~~ An EEG was available in eight of 12 patients
was made before the syndromic classification of the with frontal lobe lesions on CT. In one of these, the
ILAE.15 One hundred eighty-seven suffered partial EEG was discordant, colocalizing with the clinical
seizures and, of these, 142 had sufficiently charac- pattern to the temporal region, and, in the others,
teristic clinical patterns t o allow clinical localiza- EEG was not localizing. EEGs were present in
tion, leaving 45 patients with evidence of partial three of the six patients with focal central lesions
seizure onset, which was too vague for seizure and were nonspecific in two, the third showing
localization-eg, isolated head-turning or vague temporal spikes.
epigastric sensations. Many of these may have rep- In seven patients, the EEG showed frontopari-
resented temporal lobe epilepsy, which is more dif- eta1 spikes, in five of whom a diagnosis of benign
ficult to localize clinically. A further 18 patients epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes
suffered secondarily generalized seizures with a was strongly suspected, on the basis of electroclini-
localizable partial onset but no partial seizures, cal pattern, although patients had not all under-
yielding a total of 160 patients with localizable gone imaging or sleep EEG studies. In all three
seizure onset who form the basis of this analysis. patients with temporal lobe lesions, EEGs were
Forty-seven patients had historical, EEG, or imag- nonspecific. In two of the 10 cases with parietal or
ing evidence of focal cerebral pathology but only other posterior cortical lesions, the EEG lateralized
generalized seizures. A total of 92 patients, there- opposite to CT and clinical pattern and was nonlo-
fore, was placed in the “clinically unlocalized calizing in the other six in whom it was performed.
group,” although having other evidence pointing to Etiologies (table 3). Overall, 32% of patients had
partial onset. In table 1 are the clinical characteri- a clear cause and 9.4% a probable cause for their
October 1992 NEUROLOGY 42 1913
'able 3. Identified etiologic factors in seizures with different clinical patterns

Seizure type
Fronto-
Etiology Frontal Central temporal Temporal Parietal Posterior

Vascular 4 16 2 2 2 2
Primary tumor 3 4 0 3 1 3
Secondary tumor 3 2 0 0 1 0
Infection 0 1 0 0 0 1
Acute trauma 1 2 0 0 0 0
Remote trauma 4 1 1 0 0 0
Congenital 2 2 1 0 0 0
Other 1 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown (9%) 18 (50) 24 (46) 5 (55) 37 (86) 6 (60) 4 (40)

seizures. Figures were similar for different seizure patients were managed by a variety of specialists
patterns except in the temporal group (14%), in (eg, pediatrics, geriatrics, psychiatry) and would
which there were fewer identifiable causes. not have been detected in a study selecting patients
Mortality. Twenty-seven patients (16.9%), 11 from neurologic o r EEG department records. In
female, died during the 3 to 7 years of follow-up; 18 hospital practice, moreover, patients' seizures may
clearly succumbed to the disease that also caused not be recorded a s a s e p a r a t e diagnosis-for
their seizures. The mean age of nonsurvivors (64.2) instance, if secondary to acute cerebrovascular dis-
at presentation was higher than that of survivors ease. A major feature of the study design was the
(35.2). There were 11 deaths in the frontal group measures taken to avoid selection bias at all levels.
(30.6%), 11 in the central group (21.2%), three in Clinical criteria formed the basis of seizure local-
the temporal group (7.0%), and one each in the ization in this study. This is consistent with the
parietal and posterior groups during the period of emphasis of the ILAE classification on clinical
follow-up. The mortality was higher in the frontal seizure pattern and is most appropriate for epilep-
and central groups than in the temporal group. The tic seizures in the general population, with a low
proportion of identifiable seizure etiologies in non- mean seizure frequency, although in tertiary refer-
survivors was 85%, higher than in survivors, even ral practice, clinical analysis may be supplemented
controlling for the relative preponderance of frontal by other investigations.
and central cases. Cerebral tumors and cerebrovas- Partial seizures were identified clinically in 3 1%
cular disease were identified in 11cases each. of patients with definite epileptic seizures, com-
Seizure freauency. Data of seizure frequency pared with 15 to 38% in other s t u d i e ~ . lOf~ - par-
~~
were available in 89.4% of patients (table 1).The tial and secondary generalized seizures with a
pattern of seizure recurrence and frequency did not localizable clinical onset, the proportion conforming
show any significant difference between the six to a frontal location was high: 22.5% consistent
clinical seizure locations; 45% experienced only one with pure frontal onset and a further 38% with
seizure or became seizure free and 27.5% suffered frontoparietal or frontotemporal discharges. This
only rare seizures. Frequent seizures were seen in contrasts with current opinion, suggesting that
only 11 patients (6.9%). Four were due t o cerebral frontal seizures are relatively u n c ~ m m o nFor
. ~ this
tumor, one each to subarachnoid hemorrhage and analysis, we selected only those patients with
hypertensive vascular disease, and five were of clearly focal manifestations, excluding 92 (36.5%)
unknown etiology. Of the 27 patients who died dur- with localization-related seizures but clinically
ing the follow-up period, three each (11.15%)had unlocalizable seizure onset. A number of sources of
frequent or moderately frequent seizures, com- potential error exist; frontal motor phenomena are
pared with eight each (6%)of survivors. the most striking objective seizure phenomena and
may mask more subtle, earlier manifestations,
Discussion. We are aware of no other population- arising from other cortical sites, in some cases.
based prospective study of epileptic seizures to date Perhaps more importantly, temporal lobe epilepsy
that has addressed the question of seizure localiza- may present with subtle symptoms that are unlo-
tion. This design would be expected to confer a dif- calizable in this scheme leading to underrepresen-
ferent emphasis from previous studies, which have tation of this group. Conversely, in the current
relied on retrospective diagnoses from EEG or spe- study, frontal lesions, demonstrated on imaging,
cialist records, or, if prospective, have been hospital presented with generalized seizures, a feature well
b a ~ e d . l I~n -t ~
h i~s partial seizure group, 93% known t o be associated more commonly with
attended the hospital. Many of these, however, par- frontal than extrafrontal lesions.24Moreover, the
ticularly the elderly with known cerebrovascular prominent motor effects of frontal seizures may
disease, were managed by general physicians, also mimic generalized seizures, again leading to
without recourse to specialist investigations; other an underestimation of frontal seizures.
1914 NEUROLOGY 42 October 1992
Of the 594 patients referred to the NGPSE, Most s t ~ d i e s ~report
l - ~ ~rates of focal CT abnor-
seizures without unequivocal focal or generalized mality in partial epilepsy of 20 to 30%, but they
features were seen in 190 and localization-related have examined patients with chronic refractory
epilepsies without clear focal onset in a further 92 seizures. In the current study, the overall yield of
patients. CT abnormalities was 35% of those with partial
There was a trend for frontal lobe seizures t o seizures who underwent CT. The high proportion of
occur in younger, male patients but this did not abnormalities probably represents patient selec-
approach significance. In Rasmussen’s large series tion. Also, our data are drawn from the general
of refractory frontal epilepsy,25there was a high population presenting with a recent onset of
incidence of previous trauma, for which young men seizures, a proportion of which represented obvi-
are at the highest risk. Although a history of signif- ous, de novo structural lesions that time would
icant trauma was elicited in only nine cases of the select out from studies of chronic refractory epilep-
current series, five were frontal, three frontopari- sy.
etal, a n d one frontotemporal. The etiology of The higher mortality in the frontal and central
seizures was recognized less frequently in patients groups than in the temporal group is probably due
in the temporal group than in the other groups. It to the higher proportion of identifiable pathology.
is increasingly recognized that a substantial pro- Although mortality was lower in the parietal and
portion of temporal lobe epilepsy may be due t o posterior groups, in which major structural pathol-
mesial temporal sclerosis,26a pathology generally ogy was also frequently diagnosed, this may be a
undetectable by CT, which may account for the low chance effect of smaller group size. The criteria for
rate of detection and diagnosis in this group. With focal EEG abnormality were rigorous, with slow
modern imaging techniques, especially MRI, the wave or other less specific abnormalities excluded,
rate of detection of significant pathology is much unless accompanied by spikes or sharp waves.
greater.27-29 The current study was undertaken (Temporal slow waves were frequently described in
before these MRI techniques were available and the absence of other abnormalities in a large num-
the proportion with mesial temporal sclerosis is, ber of patients in all groups.) The yield of focal
therefore, unknown. abnormalities on interictal EEG in patients with
The seizure frequency at latest follow-up was clinically localized seizure onset was 18%,and was
similar in all groups. Overall, 47.5% were seizure similar in all groups. However, a further 15 clini-
free at 2 years and only 11 (6.9%) had frequent cally generalized seizures were identified as local-
seizures. In the six nonsurvivors with moderately ization related on the basis of focal temporal EEG
frequent o r very frequent seizures, the cause of abnormalities. Focal spike discharges gave a local-
death was also the cause of their seizures. This ization strongly at variance with the clinical pic-
suggests there may be a group who develop severe ture in 20% of cases. Although of a community-
seizures as part of their final illness, leaving an based rather than a hospital-based patient group,
even smaller proportion of the general population our results are consistent with the limitations of
with severe chronic epilepsy. the role of interictal scalp EEG in partial seizures.
There was no evidence that chance of remission Most studies of scalp EEG localization have exam-
was any more likely in any of the groups. Hospital- ined its value in refractory epilepsy, in which, com-
based studies suggest that frontal lobe attacks tend pared against depth EEG, even ictal scalp EEG
to occur frequently, in clusters, and are particular- may miss up to 50% of focal epilepsies, particularly
ly difficult to treat.5-11,30
Our findings do not confirm if there is secondary bilateral s y n c h r ~ n y ,which
~~-~~
this, and the hospital studies may show a selection is commonly seen in mesial frontal epilepsies.
bias to a particularly refractory subgroup rather False-positive EEG results are also reported, espe-
t h a n reflect frontal lobe epilepsy a s a whole. cially from the frontal lobes.43
Indeed, the response to treatment was generally The high rate of discordance between the local-
excellent in all the partial seizure patterns, with ization of clinical pattern and investigative abnor-
many patients becoming seizure free-again in con- mality may be giving i m p o r t a n t information
trast to reports from hospital-based studies. regarding seizure mechanisms. The frontal lobe
We also looked at the results of EEG and CT in seizure pattern elicited from posterior cerebral
this unselected population and at the relation of tumors in two cases of this series (table 2) may rep-
clinical features to focal findings on CT and EEG. resent the spread of discharges from an area that is
Our findings need to be interpreted with caution either clinically silent or whose manifestations are
since not all patients underwent investigation. purely subjective and masked by subsequent loss of
I t is, however, intuitively likely t h a t those consciousness and amnesia. Rapid seizure spread
selected for investigation would yield a higher inci- has been demonstrated experimentally with intra-
dence of abnormalities than the population as a cerebral recording in human^.^^,^^ Occipitofrontal
whole, and this is supported by the finding that CT pathways are well described in humans46and are a
was performed in 54% of patients with newly diag- likely substrate for seizure spread in this example.
nosed focal seizures, compared with 26% of This study suggests that discordance among CT,
p a t i e n t s with newly diagnosed generalized EEG, and clinical seizure patterns may be a fea-
seizures. ture of epilepsy at all levels of severity and may not
October 1992 NEUROLOGY 42 1915
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