Einspenner Michael, Brunet Donald G, Boissé Lomax Lysa, Spiller Allison E
Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology (Clinical Neurophysiology).
Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology (Clinical Neurophysiology), Division of Respirology, Queen's University and Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Epileptic Disord. 2015 Dec;17(4):409-12. doi: 10.1684/epd.2015.0775.
This case study documents a patient who experienced bradycardia brought on by flash stimulation during a routine outpatient EEG recording. The patient had known photosensitive seizures in the past. During this routine EEG, the patient's heart rate dropped to about 12 beats per minute with the EEG displaying slow-delta-frequency waves with no epileptiform spikes or sharp waves. During immediate follow-up, in our emergency department, the patient had a brief asystolic event, followed by bradycardia. Cardiology examinations were normal. We propose that this response was a photic-triggered reflex vasovagal reaction.