Self-induction behavior in patients with photosensitive and hot water epilepsy: a comparative study from a tertiary epilepsy center in Turkey.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to compare self-induction (SI) patterns in photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) and hot water epilepsy (HWE).

METHODS: Among 7609 consecutive patients, 129 were diagnosed as having PSE, and 34, HWE.

RESULTS: Thirteen patients with PSE (10 females, 3 males, age at onset: 8.6; 3 with mental retardation) and 9 patients with HWE (all males, age at onset: 13.1) reported experiencing SI. During the seizures, a pleasurable feeling was described by all patients with HWE, but only by 3 patients with PSE. Patients with PSE induced their seizures by going very close to the TV screen or by waving their hands and blinking in front of the light sources. In the patients with HWE, seizures were precipitated by increasing the temperature of the water poured over the head or body.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that SI is more frequent in HWE, although this behavior was attributed mostly to PSE in previous studies.