CONy 2022 | The current diagnostic workup for psychogenic seizures

Barbara Dworetzky, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, describes the process and challenges of diagnosing psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). Building trust and rapport in patients is a key part of the process and discussing their past history can reveal past cases of functional neurological disorder (FND). Monitoring the frequency and type of seizures is another aspect of diagnosis and despite video EEG (electroencephalograph) being the gold standard, the equipment may not be universally available. The advent of smartphones may enable diagnoses to be made outside the clinic where videos of seizures can be recorded. This interview was conducted during the 2022 World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) meeting.