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Startle epilepsy complicating down syndrome during adulthood
Author(s) -
GiménezRoldán S.,
Martín M.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410070114
Subject(s) - clonazepam , epilepsy , ictal , moro reflex , cerebral palsy , medicine , reflex , reflex epilepsy , lesion , psychology , electroencephalography , audiology , anesthesia , neuroscience , pediatrics , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychiatry
A woman with Down syndrome—a trisomy 21 karyotype—developed severe startle epilepsy and spontaneous seizures at the age of 20 years. Triggering factors, zeizure patterns, and ictal electroencephalograms were the same as in startle epilepsy occurring in children with cerebral palsy but differed in that there was no clinical or radiological evidence of a focal brain lesion in the vicinity of the motor supplementary cortex. A therapeutic trial with clonazepam substantially reduced the frequency of reflex‐induced and spontaneous seizures.