This case is presented to: a) emphasize the importance of a careful history, including interviewing witnesses and considering a complete differential diagnosis when evaluating aviators with a history of an episode of altered consciousness; and b) demonstrate an appropriate use of literature review, subspecialty consultations, and U.S. Air Force Aeromedical ...

We report the case of a patient suffering from dysthymia. He underwent successful ECT treatment and was medicated with nefazodone and midazolam. Comparing the EEG and motor seizure duration in the periods with and without midazolam, no significant differences were recorded, but the dosage of thiopental and of succinylcholine had ...

We report detection of an epileptic mirror focus approximately 2 h after administration of oral clonidine 150 micrograms in a patient with an intractable complex partial seizure disorder. The specific epileptic activity was documented by electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings. The case illustrates a possible role of clonidine in ...

OBJECTIVES: To characterise the clinical features and response to treatment of supratentorial cavernomas associated with epilepsy. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was carried out and a retrospective case series of patients with cavernoma diagnosed by MRI and/or histology was compiled. Patient selection biases in the literature review were ...

A population-based case control study and monthly follow-up of 121 registered epilepsy cases was conducted during 1995-1997 in a resettlement colony of Chandigarh, India. History of various tentative risk factors, e.g. trauma, febrile seizures, family history of seizures, alcohol intake and other possible causes was elicited. An age- and sex-matched ...

The essence of the epilepsy defense is the argument that a crime was committed as a result of the perpetrator having epilepsy, and thus that he or she should not be held responsible for a violent crime. Neurologists are frequently asked to pass judgment regarding whether an alleged act may ...

A young female presented with an epileptic syndrome resembling childhood absence epilepsy, a normal neurologic examination, generalized 3-Hz spike-and-wave discharges, and clinical absences. Her seizures responded to treatment with valproic acid. Other abnormalities in her electroencephalogram prompted neuroimaging studies, which demonstrated periventricular nodular heterotopia. Review of published reports confirmed this ...

We report two cases of transient epileptic foci in humans associated with placement of intracranial electrodes. The abnormalities consisted of restricted areas of active, almost continuous, rhythmic spiking, intermittently evolving into electrographic seizure activity, which resolved spontaneously within 3-4 days. The first occurred after placement of a subdural electrode grid ...

The association between posterior fossa malformations and epilepsy is rarely reported in the literature. We describe 54 cases with posterior fossa malformations, according to embryogenesis classification, divided into two groups on the basis of presence or absence of epilepsy. Epilepsy occurred in 22 cases (40.7%) and was not related to ...

Agricultural pilots are involved in a particularly hazardous occupation with a high occupational mortality rate. They face many risks, not least of which is exposure to the agricultural chemicals that they spray. Many accidents and illnesses have been reported previously in the literature, attributable to the acute and chronic effects ...

BACKGROUND/AIM OF STUDY: To determine the characteristics of newly diagnosed epilepsy in the multiracial population of Malaysia. METHODS: This is a prospective study of 165 consecutive newly diagnosed cases of epilepsy presenting to the neurology laboratory of the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. The inclusion criteria were: two or more seizures ...

BACKGROUND: This case describes a newborn who was accidentally given carboprost (Hemabate) 250 micrograms intramuscularly, the largest amount ever reported in a normal newborn. CASE REPORT: A full-term newborn was inadvertently given carboprost rather than his prescribed hepatitis vaccine. Within 15 minutes, he was tachypneic and hypertensive followed by bronchospasms ...

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an effective anticonvulsant agent. Current literature reports describe several cases of seizure exacerbation and/or EEG worsening due to CBZ with a high prevalence in children and adolescents; we report 10 new cases. Nine patients had epilepsy; one showed delayed psychomotor development and frequent EEG paroxysmal abnormalities. Four ...

This case describes a man with progressive refractory epilepsy whose death was witnessed during a seizure. Initial brain imaging was normal, but following prolonged episodes of non-convulsive status epilepticus, progressive right-sided temporal atrophy developed over a period of two years. The clinical picture and postmortem examination were consistent with the ...

Some anti-allergic agents act as histamine H1 antagonists and induce seizure discharges in epileptic patients. Of these agents, ketotifen has an especially potent effect. We have experienced 2 cases of 4-month-old boys who developed infantile spasms 8 to 10 days after ketotifen administration. They showed almost the same clinical course ...

Buspirone is a novel anxiolytic agent that is commonly used in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Many studies have found it to be equal in efficacy to the benzodiazepines in the treatment of this illness. Its use has gained favor over the past few years because of its relatively ...

Use of the serotonin uptake antidepressants is growing. These agents are thought to be safer than the tricyclic antidepressants, but clinicians should be aware that with overdoses, seizure activity and cardiac dysrhythmias have been reported in the medical literature. Physicians should be prepared to recognize and manage these overdosages. An ...

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a drug frequently used to treat variety of neurological diseases or symptoms. Among its adverse effects, auditory disturbance is described rarely. In the present report, we describe an 18-year-old girl who noted false lowering of perceived pitch after starting CBZ treatment for epilepsy, and review the literature ...

The prevalence of refractory partial seizure Thai patients at Prasat Neurological Institute was retrospectively from patient charts from January 1995-December 1996 and further prospectively analysed. All epileptic patients were screened by direct questions regarding the anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) regimen, the frequency, nature of seizure attacks and risk factors of seizure. ...

The linear naevus sebaceus syndrome (LNSS) is a phakomatosis, characterized in general by a triad consisting of naevus sebaceus of Jadassohn, seizures, and mental retardation. In addition, a broad spectrum of neurological, ophthalmological, skeletal, urogenital and cardiovascular symptoms may be encountered. According to our literature review, seizures and mental retardation ...

This case report describes an 85 year-old woman who underwent a bilateral frontal lobotomy for presumed schizophrenia 50 years ago. The patient presented with sudden alterations of consciousness accompanied by motionless staring and speech and movement arrest. After 5 to 10 seconds, contact recovered briskly. As there was electrophysiological evidence ...

An 8-year-old Japanese boy had Sakoda complex (basal encephalomeningocele, agenesis of the corpus callosum, and cleft lip and/or palate) associated with bilateral anophthalmia, dysgenesis of the cerebral cortex, severe mental retardation, and intractable epilepsy as core symptoms and hemiparesis, microcephalus, short stature, and hemivertebra. Tada and Nakamura described the first ...

We present a case of parietal lobe epilepsy, the epileptogenic focus of which was conspicuously demonstrated on magnetoencephalography (MEG). The remarkable fluctuation in the seizure frequency and the presence of atonic seizures were suggestive of atypical partial benign epilepsy of childhood (APBEC). An interictal positron emission tomography (PET) scan performed ...

OBJECTIVES: To study the circumstances of death in sudden death in epilepsy. METHODS: Self referred bereaved relatives of patients with epilepsy who had died suddenly were interviewed with information obtained substantiated through other sources-namely, coroners' officers' reports, postmortem reports, previous medical records, and EEG reports. RESULTS: Of 34 cases, 26 ...

BACKGROUND: Intranasal desmopressin has been used extensively to treat primary nocturnal enuresis. While it has proven to be a safe, effective agent for many who are affected by this condition, the potential for complications exists. OBJECTIVES: To report a case of severe hyponatremia associated with a generalized tonic-clonic seizure in ...

Bupropion, a relatively new antidepressant, is highly regarded for its safety profile in therapeutic doses and in the overdose. Seizure is the primary adverse reaction associated with bupropion overdoses. Clinically significant cardiovascular complications are rare. We report the case of an adult male who ingested 9 g bupropion and developed ...

BACKGROUND: A seizure is the most common cause of loss of driving privileges for medical reasons but there is variability in how physicians and the authorities who regulate driving approach this issue. METHODS: A questionnaire regarding epilepsy and driving was sent to all adult neurologists in Canada (n = 494). ...

Arrhythmogenic seizures may represent one of the mechanisms implicated in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Various cardiac changes can be observed during epileptic seizures. However, reports of well-documented, life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias in the literature are scarce. The pathogenesis of these arrhythmias and speculations about the cortical localization of cardioarrhythmogenic triggers ...

We report a case with hemimegalencephaly and catastrophic epilepsy treated early at 4 months by functional hemispherectomy. The boy had intractable continuous epilepsy, with seizures every 10 min, hemiparesis and absence of psychomotor acquisition. Three years after hemispherectomy, the boy is seizure free and has a mild psychomotor delay. Hemiparesis ...

We report the case of a 41 year-old woman with a slight mental retardation and epilepsy. MRI showed a diffuse subependymal heterotopia. The cognitive level supports the view that the ectopic cells are probably not important for the normal cortical functions but that they are likely able to maintain some ...

Childhood epilepsy with occipital paroxysms (CEOP) is an idiopathic localization-related epilepsy. A typical seizure in CEOP begins with visual symptoms, followed by hemiclonic seizures, complex partial seizures or generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Benign nocturnal childhood occipital epilepsy (BNCOE), characterized by nocturnal seizures with tonic deviation of the eyes followed by vomiting, ...

The prevalence of epilepsy in children aged 0-15 years of Kaunas city, Lithuania, was evaluated on 1 January 1995. Multiple sources for case identification were used, i.e. medical records at the university hospital, regional outpatient clinics and consultation centres, institutions, schools and kindergartens for the handicapped. Active epilepsy was defined ...

A 16-year-old left-handed male is presented with a history of seizures associated with a fish-like odour and behavioural disturbances thought to be related to trimethylaminuria. His seizures were complex-partial (cursive) seizures and started at the age of 18 months. They occurred in the context of discrete episodes several times per ...

We report the case of a patient with progressive seizures caused by a cavernous angioma in association with a venous angioma in the right parietal lobe. The radiological findings, the pathogenesis of this association and the importance of surgical treatment of a cavernous angioma with conservative treatment of a venous ...

We report a case of frontal lobe epilepsy with bursts of 3 Hz spike-wave, often dominant in the left frontal lobe, that sometimes developed into a secondary bilateral generalization. This patient was a 69-year-old male with a history of epileptic seizures that began 3 months following a head injury at ...

The author presents clinical and electroencephalographic data of an epileptic girl, whose absences started at the age of 2. Based on seizure semiology, serial EEG and video-EEG recording, 7 years of follow-up and other clinical data, the patient was diagnosed as having the PMA ('perioral myoclonus with absences') syndrome. There ...

Composite pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA)-ganglioglioma (GG) is a rare recently described entity. Only three examples have been documented, one of which showed evidence of malignant transformation. We report an additional four cases and update the literature. With the exception of an 82-year-old man, all patients have been under 30 years of ...

A 30-year-old Indian migrant worker presented with seizures at the National University Hospital. A CT-scan of the brain showed multiple calcifications and cysts consistent with neurocysticercosis. Plain radiographs of the humeri and femora also revealed multiple soft tissue calcifications. He was given a course of anti-helminthic therapy and started on ...

Bradyarrhythmias associated with partial seizures are uncommon, with most reported patients having temporal lobe seizure foci on scalp EEG recordings. We report a patient with bradycardia and sinus arrest during a complex partial seizure documented during bilateral subdural EEG and EEG and simultaneous video and EEG recordings. The seizure began ...

The aim of this study is to find out whether bromide was able to cause conversion of epilepsy to psychosis i.e., so-called paradoxical normalization such as has been seen in treatment with modern antiepileptic drugs. Spontaneous conversion has been known for three hundred years. Locock introduced bromide in the treatment ...

We followed five cases with severe febrile seizures (FS) with early onset and seizures induced by hot water bath, indicating severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (SME) or the peripheral form of SME. These cases, however, had far better clinical courses than that of SME or the peripheral form of SME. ...

PURPOSE: We report a case of musicogenic epilepsy with ictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) study and discuss the findings of this patient in the context of 76 cases with musicogenic epilepsy described in the literature and seven other cases followed in Zurich. METHODS: We analyzed the 83 patients ...

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of venlafaxine overdose. CASE SUMMARY: A 40-year-old woman with major depression took an overdose of venlafaxine in an apparent suicide attempt. After the ingestion of 26 venlafaxine 50-mg tablets, the patient experienced a witnessed generalized seizure. She was admitted to the medical intensive care unit, ...

BACKGROUND: Bupropion is a unique monocyclic antidepressant that has been known to cause seizures in high therapeutic doses and in acute overdoses. Death due to ingestion, however, is a rare occurrence. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 26-year-old man who ingested 23 g bupropion, developed seizures and hypoxia, ...

In approximately 30% of patients with intractable partial epilepsy, an intra-axial cerebral lesion is the aetiology of the seizure disorder. Lesions adjacent to mesiotemporal structures often result in secondary epileptogenicity in the same region. The authors present 22 cases of low-grade gliomas associated with intractable epilepsy. In 15 cases the ...

Psychopathology following epilepsy neurosurgery is a significant risk. Treatment modalities have not been addressed in the literature. As disproportionately elevated suicide rates have been reported, it is critical to treat aggressively any psychiatric illness wherein suicidal ideation is a key component. This case reports the safe utilization of electroconvulsive therapy ...

We report on an infant with D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria, who presented with severe seizures and developmental delay. We reviewed the literature for 2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria and found six other patients with the D-isomer and 24 patients with the L-isomer. Although the clinical spectrum of this inborn error of metabolism is variable, the ...

This population-based, retrospective cohort study of neonatal seizures included all 16,428 neonates born to residents of Fayette County, Kentucky, from 1985 to 1989. Eighty potential cases were ascertained by computer search of hospital-based medical record systems, birth certificate data files, and multiple-cause-of-death mortality data files. Medical records for potential cases ...

Three cases in which patients who were taking fluoxetine for relief of depression showed patterns of abnormal movements suggestive of tardive dyskinesia are presented. In the first case, abnormal facial movements began four weeks after fluoxetine was added to doxepin and lithium and remitted after fluoxetine was discontinued. In the ...

To describe a case of cortical blindness and cerebral infarction associated with severe hypoglycemia. The possible pathogenesis of the neurological defects is discussed.