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February 26, 2019; 92 (9) Article

Value of witness observations in the differential diagnosis of transient loss of consciousness

Min Chen, Jenny Jamnadas-Khoda, Mark Broadhurst, Melanie Wall, Richard Grünewald, Stephen J.L. Howell, Matthias Koepp, Steve W. Parry, Sanjay M. Sisodiya, Matthew Walker, Dale Hesdorffer, Markus Reuber
First published January 25, 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000007017
Min Chen
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Jenny Jamnadas-Khoda
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Mark Broadhurst
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Melanie Wall
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Richard Grünewald
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Stephen J.L. Howell
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Matthias Koepp
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Steve W. Parry
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Sanjay M. Sisodiya
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Matthew Walker
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Dale Hesdorffer
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Markus Reuber
From the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center (M.C., M. Wall, D.H.), Columbia University, New York, NY; Academic Neurology Unit (J.J.-K., M.R.), Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield; Mental Health Liaison Team (M.B.), Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hartington Unit, Chesterfield; Department of Neurology (R.G., S.J.L.H.), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (M.K., S.M.S., M. Walker), Institute of Neurology, University College London; and Institute of Cellular Medicine (S.W.P.), Newcastle University, UK.
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Value of witness observations in the differential diagnosis of transient loss of consciousness
Min Chen, Jenny Jamnadas-Khoda, Mark Broadhurst, Melanie Wall, Richard Grünewald, Stephen J.L. Howell, Matthias Koepp, Steve W. Parry, Sanjay M. Sisodiya, Matthew Walker, Dale Hesdorffer, Markus Reuber
Neurology Feb 2019, 92 (9) e895-e904; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007017

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Abstract

Objective This retrospective study explores to what extent additional information from event witnesses provided using the novel 31-item Paroxysmal Event Observer (PEO) Questionnaire improves the differentiation among epilepsy, syncope, and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) achievable with information provided by patients alone.

Methods Patients with transient loss of consciousness caused by proven epilepsy (n = 86), syncope (n = 79), or PNES (n = 84) attending specialist neurology/syncope services in the United Kingdom and event observers provided Paroxysmal Event Profile (PEP), PEO, and personal information (PI) (e.g., sex, age, medical history) data. PEO data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). PEO, PEP, and PI data were used separately and in combination to differentiate diagnoses by pairwise and multinomial logistic regressions. Predicted diagnoses were compared with gold standard medical diagnoses.

Results EFA/CFA identified a 4-factor structure of the PEO based on 26/31 questionnaire items with loadings ≥0.4. Observer-reported factors alone differentiated better between syncope and epilepsy than patient-reported factors (accuracy: 96% vs 85%, p = 0.0004). Observer-reported data improved accuracy over differentiation based on patient-reported data alone from 90% to 100% between syncope and epilepsy (p = 0.005), 76% to 83% between epilepsy and PNES (p = 0.006), and 93% to 95% between syncope and PNES (p = 0.098).

Conclusions Information from observers can make an important contribution to the differentiation of epilepsy from syncope or PNES but adds less to that of syncope from PNES.

Glossary

ANOVA=
analysis of variance;
CFI=
comparative fit index;
EFA=
exploratory factor analysis;
PEO=
Paroxysmal Event Observer;
PEP=
Paroxysmal Event Profile;
PI=
patient information;
PNES=
psychogenic nonepileptic seizures;
RMSEA=
root mean square error approximation;
TLI=
Tucker Lewis index;
TLOC=
transient loss of consciousness

Footnotes

  • Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.

  • CME Course: NPub.org/cmelist

  • Received June 21, 2018.
  • Accepted in final form October 22, 2018.
  • © 2019 American Academy of Neurology
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Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence

  • Author response to Dr. Sethi
    • Markus Reuber, MD, PhD, University of Sheffield (Sheffield, England, UK)
    • Min Chen, PhD, Columbia University (New York, NY)
    Submitted April 02, 2019
  • Reader response: Value of witness observations in the differential diagnosis of transient loss of consciousness
    • Nitin K. Sethi, Associate Professor of Neurology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York, NY)
    Submitted February 21, 2019
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