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Brief Communication
Siblings with refractory occipital epilepsy showing localized network activity on EEG-fMRI
Article first published online: 7 JAN 2013
DOI: 10.1111/epi.12076
Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 International League Against Epilepsy
Additional Information
How to Cite
Carney, P. W., Harvey, A. S., Berkovic, S. F., Jackson, G. D. and Scheffer, I. E. (2013), Siblings with refractory occipital epilepsy showing localized network activity on EEG-fMRI. Epilepsia, 54: e28–e32. doi: 10.1111/epi.12076
Publication History
- Issue published online: 5 FEB 2013
- Article first published online: 7 JAN 2013
- Manuscript Accepted: 13 NOV 2012
Funded by
- NHMRC
- Pfizer Neuroscience Research
- Dowd Foundation Scholarship
- State Government of Victoria
Keywords:
- Benign occipital epilepsy;
- Gastaut syndrome;
- Panayiotopoulos syndrome
Summary
The benign occipital epilepsies of childhood include Panayiotopoulos and Gastaut syndromes; a third syndrome, idiopathic photosensitive occipital epilepsy may also begin in childhood or adolescence. We describe siblings with occipital epilepsy characterized by refractory, frequent, brief visual seizures and normal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Electroencephalography (EEG) with functional MRI (fMRI) supports localization of interictal epileptiform activity to the occipital lobes. Our hypothesis is that the siblings share a genetic focal epilepsy arising from a localized occipital network. Although they share many features of Gastaut syndrome, their refractory ongoing seizures in adolescence is unusual and likely due to underlying genetic determinants.