[Longitudinal study of foci of peak potentials in children followed since birth (premature and newborn infants at term)].

The most significant results obtained in this study are as follows: Our group, in which the premature infants constitute one half, very often shows peak potential foci in the brain-current diagram. This applies in particular to premature infants at 2 years of age. What is remarkable is the group of 21 normal children among the 88 children, of whom the majority show peak potentials after 2 years. It is impossible to decide whether these peaks signify a lesion or a functional disorder only. From practical considerations it follows that the presence of peaks in children under 2 years of age is a serious symptom; such peaks should not be treated with barbiturates, as it is possible for them to disappear spontaneously. Long-drawn-out observations made in a period of four to five years have shown that epilepsy is a rare occurrence in children showing peaks in their brain-current diagrams between 2 and 5 years of age. The peak potential does not indicate a disease, but is rather an indication of a more or less transitory functional disorder, and it should be interpreted together with the clinical picture.