PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Richard A A Kanaan
AU  - Roderick Duncan
AU  - Laura H Goldstein
AU  - Joseph Jankovic
AU  - Andrea E Cavanna
TI  - Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures just another symptom of conversion disorder?
AID  - 10.1136/jnnp-2017-315639
DP  - 2017 May 01
TA  - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
PG  - 425--429
VI  - 88
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/5/425.short
4100  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/88/5/425.full
SO  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry2017 May 01; 88
AB  - Background Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are classified with other functional neurological symptoms as ‘Conversion Disorder’, but there are reasons to wonder whether this symptomatology constitutes a distinct entity.Methods We reviewed the literature comparing PNES with other functional neurological symptoms.Results We find eight studies that directly examined this question. Though all but one found significant differences—notably in presenting age, trauma history, and dissociation—they were divided on whether these differences represented an important distinction.Conclusion We argue that the aetiological and mechanistic distinctions they support, particularly when bolstered by additional data, give reason to sustain a separation between these conditions.