Psychiatric correlates of rhythmic midtemporal discharges and 6/sec spike and wave complexes.

In order to better characterize the psychopathology in patients with the two specific EEG patterns, rhythmic midtemporal discharges (RMTD) and 6/sec spike and wave complexes (S + W), the newly developed Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was administered to 40 patients in four groups. One group had RMTD, the other 6/sec S + W complexes; there were two control groups, both with normal electroencephalograms (EEGs), one group with, and the other without, a history of psychiatric illnesses. The RMTD group had significantly less symptomatology than the 6/sec S + W and the psychiatric control groups, but it had a significantly higher percentage of somatization symptoms; patients with 6/sec S + W showed a tendency toward anxiety-related disorders. The psychiatric control group had no specific trends, but demonstrated more overall psychopathology than the two groups with a specific EEG pattern.