Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS) is the most common type of focal epilepsy in children; it is age-dependent and presumably genetic. Traditionally, children with BECTS have a very good prognosis, even without medical treatment, and are thought to show no neurological symptoms or cognitive deficits. However, many previous studies have shown that BECTS can present with various clinical and electroencephalographic characteristics that are commonly associated with neuropsychological deficits, including linguistic, cognitive, and behavioral impairment. The degree of the neuropsychological deficits appears to depend on the sleep cycle and the localization of epileptiform discharges. Furthermore, based on neurobiological studies, a complex interplay between the processes of brain maturation and the involvement of genes that confer susceptibility may contribute to a variety of different childhood epileptic syndromes with various neuropsychological deficits. Thus, BECTS, atypical benign focal epilepsy during childhood, status epilepticus of BECTS, Landau-Kleffner syndrome, and epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-and-wave during sleep are all considered different entities, but are part of a single spectrum of disorders. In clinical practice, we have to consider BECTS as benign only when there are no or only mild neuropsychological deficits before medical treatment.
Keywords: Atypical benign focal epilepsy; Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes; Continuous spike-and-wave during sleep; Electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep; Landau-Kleffner syndrome.