Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

A case of bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria with epileptic attacks of focal inhibitory seizure followed by complex partial seizure

Misa Nakano, M.D., Yasushi Takase, M.D. and Chikao Tatsumi, M.D.

Department of Neurology, Toyonaka Municipal Hospital

A 20-year-old woman began to have epileptic attacks of focal inhibitory seizure with paralysis and hypesthesia of her left or right upper limb followed by complex partial seizure several times a week since age 19. She was born by breech presentation and umbilical cord was coiling around her neck at birth. EEG showed spike foci on P3, O1 and T5. Cerebral MRI with 4 mm-section inversion recovery image revealed bilaterally symmetrical polymicrogyria involving the posterior portion of sylvian fissure extending posteriorly to the inner cortex of the postcentral gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus, and she was diagnosed as bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria. 99mTc-ECD SPECT showed increased cerebral blood flow over the bilateral polymicrogyric lesion. On cerebral MRA, bilateral middle cerebral arteries were narrow all way through. Epileptic attacks were controlled with zonisamide and carbamazepin. This is a rare case of bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria because epileptic attacks were the only manifestation and the patient showed neither mental retardation nor neurological abnormality.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 42: 941|945, 2002)
key words: sylvian fissure, polymicrogyria, focal inhibitory seizure, inversion-recovery (IR) image

(Received: 7-Aug-02)