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Benign Idiopathic Partial Epilepsy and Brain Lesion
Author(s) -
Stephani U.,
Doose H.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00721.x
Subject(s) - epilepsy , lesion , electroencephalography , medicine , phenocopy , brain damage , partial seizures , pediatrics , psychology , audiology , pathology , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , mutant , gene
Summary: A 14‐year‐old girl had severe head trauma from a dog bite at the age of 9 days. This resulted in extensive brain damage, tetraplegia, mental retardation, and epilepsy. The seizures were of rolandic type, and the EEG showed multifocal sharp waves. The course was benign. The initial diagnosis of a pure symptomatic epilepsy was revised after demonstrating typical benign focal sharp waves in the EEG of the healthy sister. Thus a phenocopy of a benign partial epilepsy by the brain lesion could be excluded with sufficient certainty. This observation allows the conclusion that the genetic disposition underlying the sharp‐wave trait characteristic of benign partial epilepsies can be involved also in the pathogenesis of seemingly pure symptomatic epilepsies. EEG studies on siblings of such patients are needed to exclude possible phenocopies.