You are mostly talking about 'topping'? Interesting. Nope, never tried it, but curious.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1429715/does-anyone-prune-eggplant-like-tomatoes

Thanks, Dan, for the link. Now I am totally confused :) I think I'll just remove dead leaves and not overthink this.

My wife has an excellent recipe for a prune & eggplant dish....

Yes, worse joke posted here since joining in 1998. ...

but no. have never top eggplants.

Hey tom, I thought it was just me, but I read that link and went away completely dissatisfied.

This is my first year growing eggplants and I have them planted fairly close.

If I get the chance, next year I'll leave one some extra space and top it after it get's into it's mid-life phase. I wouldn't want to 'sucker' it, as from what I understand, that's where the fruits are borne, but topping would encourage side shoots and lateral branching. I'm thinking that a topped eggplant would need a lot of space.