Nocturnal partial seizures and arousals/awakenings from sleep: an ambulatory EEG study.

The architecture of nocturnal sleep in twenty subjects (9 males, 11 females, mean age 27 years) affected by partial cryptogenic epilepsy was investigated by means of ambulatory EEG (A-EEG) recording performed at home. The study aimed in particular to ascertain the immediate effects of nocturnal partial epileptic seizures on sleep stability and continuity. Data for a total of 49 recorded seizures indicate that 72% of the partial seizures which occurred during sleep were followed by arousal and awakening, and that sleep interruption lasted significantly longer when the seizure occurred between 4 and 7 a.m.