Subjective and Objective Premonitory Symptoms as Epileptic Prodromes

To investigate the prevalence of epileptic prodromes, 293 subjects with epilepsy, ranging in age from 12 to 72 years, were interviewed. Sixty subjects (20.5%) had generalized epilepsies and 233 (79.5%) had localization-related epilepsies. Twenty-one subjects (7.2%) were found to have experienced prodromes. These prodromes were classified as "subjective" if the subject himself or herself perceived them, or "objective" if the subject's family or friends noted the symptoms while the subject did not. Although it is necessary to differentiate between a prodrome and a simple partial seizure, it is important to recognize the prodrome as an anticipating factor of an epileptic incident.