Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Brief Clinical Note

A case series of 4 epilepsy patients with promnesia

Shunsuke Kajikawa, M.D.1), Katsuya Kobayashi, M.D., Ph.D.1), Kiyohide Usami, M.D., Ph.D.2), Riki Matsumoto, M.D., Ph.D.1), Akio Ikeda, M.D., Ph.D.3) and Ryosuke Takahashi, M.D., Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Neurology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine
2)Department of Neurology, Otsu Red Cross Hospital
3)Department of Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Physiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine

Promnesia is a feeling of familiarity and foreknowledge and is a manifestation of simple partial seizures (focal aware seizures). It is similar to déjà vu and has been reported to be a rare symptom in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Here, we investigated the clinical characteristics in 4 patients with partial epilepsy presenting promnesia. Three out of 4 patients showed abnormal electroencephalography (EEG) and/or MRI findings in the temporal lobe. Furthermore, in 2 patients, promnesia was the only aura. It is important to actively obtain medical history of patients about promnesia because this is useful for identifying the epileptic focus. Further cases need to be analyzed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of promnesia for diagnosis and therapy of partial epilepsy.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (636K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 58: 513|516, 2018)
key words: promnesia, temporal lobe epilepsy, déjà vu, aura

(Received: 31-Jan-18)