"Burst and slow complexes" in nonconvulsive epileptic status.

Generalized 1Hz, burst-and-slow-wave complexes were observed in a comatosed patient with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) when she showed extremely intractable, generalized convulsions and fragmented myoclonus in the whole body. Two types of short-latency SEPs were obtained separately during the burst and slow phase of the EEG (SEP-burst and SEP-slow, respectively), which showed a two fold greater amplitude of N20 in the former than in the latter. This suggests enhanced responsiveness to the peripheral stimuli during the burst phase as compared with the slow phase. CSF and serum were positive for autoantibodies to NMDA receptors. The "burst and slow complexes" reported here are considered to be an atypical EEG pattern of a generalized epileptic phenomenon.