Objective　To study the clinical features of the variants of benign childhood epilepsy with central temporal spikes (BECT). Methods The clinical data of 12 hospitalized pediatric patients with BECT from Jan 2007 to Jan 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Results There were 7 boys and 5 girls in 12 patients. The age of onset was from 3 to 9 years old. Two cases were dizygotic twins. The atypical symptoms included atypical absence of 10 cases, negative myoclonic seizure of 8 cases, speech expression disorders and oral-pharynx apraxia of 4 cases. The electroencephalography (EEG) of all 12 patients showed abundance of spike and waves (SW) in rolandic areas during wake-up and sleep. The SW index was 50%-85% during slow sleep in all patients. Conclusions The variants of BECT are often associated with EEG deterioration. Understanding the clinical featuress and EEG characteristics can help the diagnosis of BECT variants.