Epileptic generalized tonic-clonic (GTC) seizures are differentiated from nonepileptic spells primarily by history. The historical features that can aid in making a diagnosis, such as urinary incontinence and tongue biting, are few. One additional piece of information we propose may be of clinical value is the stereotypical "ictal cry." We ...

Congenital partial absence of a fallopian tube has rarely been reported in the literature. A 29-year-old nulligravida woman presented with a two-year history of infertility. Hysterosalpingography revealed an obstructed left fallopian tube with a normal uterine cavity and right fallopian tube. After several AIH treatments, diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, revealing ...

The management of medically intractable epilepsy is frequently assisted by the identification of structural abnormalities made possible by modern imaging techniques. The association between meningoencephaloceles and epileptic seizures is well reported in the literature. We report a patient with refractory right frontal lobe epilepsy caused by a right nasal meningoencephalocele ...

OBJECTIVE: Middle fossa encephaloceles are rare structural defects previously reported to cause complex partial seizures. Their debated etiology is either by failed union of temporal and sphenoid bone ossification centers or by erosion of the middle fossa floor secondary to pressure phenomena. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often reveals abnormalities, ...

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most common transmissible human spongiform encephalopathy. Seizures and status epilepticus (SE) are an uncommon finding in CJD. We report a 64-year-old woman with rapid cognitive decline who had electroencephalographic (EEG) changes suggestive of nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE). She was later diagnosed with sporadic CJD (sCJD). ...

Intrauterine seizure is a rare event. Genetic predisposition and trauma are possible risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To review and comment on the historical description of intrauterine events of a bastard daughter of Dom Pedro I (Maria Isabel Alcântara Brasileira - 1830-1896). METHOD: Review of historical facts about the health of Dom ...

Foreign bodies in vagina are known to have been inserted by the patient herself or by some other person; as an aid to masturbation, sexual intercourse or sexual assault. The two most common items retained in adult females are tampons and burst condoms. Since long, vaginal deliveries and Obstetric and ...

BACKGROUND: Sibutramine (Meridia in the United States, Reductil in Europe) is approved for weight reduction and weight maintenance. Although amnesia and seizure is listed as a reported adverse event of sibutramine in the US product information, our literature search in the PubMed website database found no published reports of theses ...

This article briefly reviews some of the past EEG treatments of epilepsy and discusses how QEEG may potentially enhance effectiveness of this approach. Several cases are presented in support of this approach.

A 20-year-old woman was admitted for psychosis. On further investigation, she was found to be have viral encephalitis and generalized nonconvulsive seizures. After the seizures were controlled, she remained in a prolonged catatonic state. Repeated intravenous benzodiazepine administration, improved her cognition dramatically. This case emphasizes that catatonia may occur after ...

OBJECTIVE: Autonomic seizures have been associated with seizure onset in the temporal or insular lobe and consist of variations in blood pressure and heart rate, sweating, flushing, piloerection, hypersalivation, vomiting, spitting, and alterations in bladder and bowel functions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the localizing and lateralizing ...

This article reviews the literature on life expectancy in the disabled population. The literature is surveyed with regard to the main elements that reduce life expectancy for people with disabilities. These are immobility, cognitive and intellectual impairment, swallowing problems and tube feeding, epilepsy and incontinence. The article discusses various improvements ...

Children with human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) present with a range of generally non-specific symptoms. Late diagnosis is frequent with often tragic outcomes. Trypanosomes can infect the foetus by crossing the placenta. Unequivocal cases of congenital infection that have been reported include newborn babies of infected mothers who were diagnosed with ...

Hypomelanosis of Ito (HI) is a rare neuroectodermal disorder often associated with mental retardation and epilepsy. We report on four new HI patients presenting with heterogeneous seizure manifestations and we review the literature concerning epileptic seizures in HI. At one extreme, there are patients with generalized seizures well controlled by ...

Gelastic epilepsy (GE) is an uncommon type of seizure disorder characterized by stereotyped, unprovoked, inappropriate ictal laughter. GE is most frequently associated with hypothalamic hamartoma, with onset almost invariably occurring during childhood. GE also occurs occasionally with temporal and frontal cortical seizure foci. We describe an unusual case of senescent-onset ...

Seizure-induced syncope is uncommon and is usually due to peri-ictal bradycardia and asystole. In contrast, peri-ictal atrioventricular conduction block (AV block) has been reported only rarely. Here, we review the literature on peri-ictal AV block and describe a patient with recurrent episodes of epigastric auras that were occasionally followed by ...

Migralepsy is an ill-defined nosologic entity, with only a few cases described in the literature. In the 2004 International Classification for Headache Disorders (ICHD-II), the International Headache Society proposed that the following diagnostic criteria should be met: (1) migraine fulfilling criteria for 1.2 Migraine with aura (MA) and (2) a ...

Eclampsia occurring without prior signs and symptoms of preeclampsia is called atypical eclampsia. We present a case of 28 year old primigravida who developed intrapartum seizures. There was no prior clinical or biochemical evidence of preeclampsia. We have discussed the differentials of intrapartum seizures and a review of literature on ...

Malformations of cortical development (MCD) have been increasingly identified. The purpose of this presentation is to review the current knowledge of the MCD. Before we address this issue, we will briefly present a review of cortical development. The second part of this presentation will address the most important MCD. Finally, ...

RATIONALE: Seizures occur in Wilson's disease (WD), with prevalence figures as high as 4-6% in specialized academic centers, but status epilepticus is rare. We report a patient with WD who developed non-convulsive status epilepticus (SE) during therapy with Tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) and review the last 20 years of the relevant literature. ...

BACKGROUND: Ciprofloxacin-associated seizures (CAS) occur most commonly in patients with special risk factors that may cause accumulation of drug (high doses of the drug, old age, renal insufficiency, drug interactions) or that may decrease the threshold of epileptogenic activity (electrolyte abnormalities, history of seizures, electroconvulsive therapy). OBJECTIVE: To report thyrotoxicosis ...

Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a rare autosomal dominant subtype of migraine with aura that is characterized by motor weakness during attacks. FHM1 is associated with mutations in the CACNA1A gene located on chromosome 19. We report a severe, prolonged HM attack in a young pregnant patient who had the ...

In this report the epidemiologic aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries are systematically reviewed. MEDLINE and Embase were searched, and six papers were identified: one incidence report from Qatar and five prevalence reports (two from Sudan, and one from each of Libya, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia). An incidence of 174 ...

PURPOSE: Intraventricular cavernomas are rare. Even more rare are those presenting in the trigone of the lateral ventricles. METHODS: We performed a search of the literature of the last 30 years and identified all cases of intraventricular cavernous angiomas. Trigonal cavernomas were separately identified and analysed. Our search yielded a ...

OBJECTIVE: Few cases of seizures associated with olanzapine therapy and even fewer with mirtazapine have been published, most of them in patients with confounding risk factors. Our objective was to report a case of Status epilepticus in a patient receiving olanzapine and mirtazapine, with no previous history of seizure and ...

This case report describes the history and hospital course of an otherwise healthy 20-year-old male with bipolar I disorder who developed symptoms of severe lithium toxicity, culminating in a seizure, despite a level of lithium of only 0.8 mEq/L, within the usual therapeutic range. The discussion emphasizes that lithium toxicity ...

Neurocysticercosis is one of the most common causes of seizures in the developing world. Due to the high volumes of immigration from South America and Asia, American physicians are increasingly encountering this condition. This case report attempts to present a brief overview of some of the difficulties associated with the ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to demonstrate the pitfalls in the diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) especially when subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is associated and discuss the diagnostic value of computed tomography (CT) imaging as well as the use of other diagnostic modalities. In addition, we will briefly ...

In March 1909, R. Benon was probably the first to report a typical case of what we now call transient global amnesia. In 1956, Bender, and independently, Guyotat and Courjon described clinical and epidemiological features of transient amnesic attacks. The condition achieved general recognition after the term transient global amnesia ...

Although sport-related concussion is a common injury, it is infrequently associated with seizure. While concussive convulsions, consisting of brief, generalized myoclonic activity while an athlete is unconscious have been described, the authors are aware of no published cases of concussion complicated by focal motor seizures. The authors describe the case ...

OBJECTIVE: A rare case of orbitofrontal lobe epilepsy manifesting gelastic seizure is reported. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 49-year-old woman had developed weekly complex partial seizures consisting of nonverbal vocalization and unresponsiveness followed by laughter. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a round tumorous lesion at the posterior side of the right rectal gyrus ...

Tardive seizure is a serious adverse reaction of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, it was rarely reported in ECT sessions for psychiatric patients who needed concurrent antibiotic treatments. We present 2 cases of patients with schizophrenia who manifested a catatonic syndrome and were indicated for ECT, along with antibiotic therapies for ...

We describe a young woman with localized scleroderma, seizures, numerous persistently enhancing white matter lesions on brain MRI, and oligoclonal bands in the CSF. The case is remarkable in the widespread bilateral distribution of the lesions and their enhancement during more than a year of follow-up despite immunosuppression. Literature search ...

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence and outcome of the most frequent type of epilepsy in infancy-infantile spasms (IS)-are well characterized in the setting of most neurocutaneous disorders. By contrast, still there is no study describing the natural history of IS in the setting of Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two patients ...

Background: Transient global amnesia is characterized by the sudden development of dense anterograde amnesia, without alteration in level of consciousness and in the absence of focal neurologic deficits or seizure activity. Various precipitating causes have been reported in the medical literature. Objective: To present a literature-guided approach to the diagnosis ...

The diagnosis of first seizure or epilepsy may be challenging and misdiagnosis can occur. Studies carried out in various settings have reported misdiagnosis rates of between 4.6% and 30%. Misdiagnosis can lead to serious consequences including driving and employment restrictions and inappropriate treatments. Most studies focus on ways of reducing ...

To describe and report initial findings of a system for prospective identification and follow-up of patients with newly diagnosed single unprovoked seizures and epilepsy in Stockholm, Sweden, the Stockholm Incidence Registry of Epilepsy (SIRE). From September 2001 through August 2004, a surveillance system has been in use to identify incident ...

A 33-year-old primigravida experienced a delayed eclamptic convulsion. Following the convulsion, an i.v. administration of magnesium sulfate was utilized in response to cerebroarterial vasospasms, which were seen before and 1 week after the convulsion. Our findings confirm that the appropriate use of magnesium sulfate is necessary in such cases.

PURPOSE: To characterize a deletion of chromosome 2q at the molecular level in a patient suffering from severe epilepsy resembling severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy/Dravet's syndrome (SMEI/DS) and to correlate other cases harboring deletions in the same region to morphological and clinical data. METHODS: Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) ...

To report the case of a child with short absences and occasional myoclonias since infancy who was first diagnosed with an idiopathic generalized epilepsy, but was documented at follow-up to have a mild phenotype of glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome. Unlike other reported cases of Glut-1 DS and epilepsy, ...

Incomplete case finding is a problem in epidemiological studies of epilepsy. We tried to optimize case ascertainment by combining information from individual interviews and medical records. During 2 years, 1838 inhabitants of Vågå, Norway, aged 18-65 (88.6% of the target population) were interviewed as part of an epidemiological study of ...

In 1947 the term phakomatosis pigmentovascularis (PPV) was coined to represent the association of widespread, aberrant, and persistent nevus flammeus and pigmentary abnormalities. Four types of PPV have been recognized with type II (nevus flammeus and Mongolian spots) being the most common. Most early cases were of Asian or African ...

Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is a relapsing, but exquisitely corticosteroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis. Although a rare disease, with just over 100 cases reported, it may be under-recognised. Its presentation can be protean with prominent neuropsychiatric features, stroke-like episodes, seizures and myoclonic jerks. Prompt corticosteroid treatment usually leads to rapid ...

Seizures and psychosis coexist in a large number of patients with epilepsy, and a significant amount of research on their relationship has been published. There are several reports and reviews on postictal and interictal psychosis in patients with epilepsy. We describe three patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, each of ...

PURPOSE: To compare medical evaluations of driving capability of drivers with epilepsy with the rules of Slovenian legislation. METHODS: Our research included all drivers in Slovenia that were evaluated as epileptic between 1993 and 2002. The results were processed using the standard descriptive statistical methods. RESULTS: During the 10-year period, ...

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been applied with variable success to terminate the seizures of epilepsia partialis continua. The rationale for using this technique to suppress ongoing seizures is the capacity of rTMS to interrupt ongoing neuronal activity, and to produce a lasting decrease in cortical excitability with low-frequency ...

This article describes a very rare case of a double cortex syndrome in a man aged 32 years old who started from the age of 14 years having seizures and many other epileptic manifestations that continue to the present age, being always intractable to various therapeutic regimes. The neuroimaging revealed ...

A case report is presented of a 36-year-old U.S. Coast Guard aviator who had a single seizure while operating a helicopter on the ground. His seizure activity produced a loss of consciousness during which he pushed the cyclic to the left anterior quadrant that resulted in a ground mishap. No ...

Events of ictal bradycardia or asystole may be of relevance in epilepsy patients presenting with ictal falls, and are a potential contributor to SUDEP. The literature on ictal bradycardia or asystole is anecdotal and consists of case reports and small case series. There are no guidelines for the care of ...

Clonidine is used as second-line medication for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Product information concerning clonidine reported seizures only after overdosage of clonidine, and the prescription of clonidine has not been contraindicated in patients with known epilepsy. The present case report discusses a possible association of ...