RESUMEN
Gelastic epilepsy or laughing seizures have been historically related to children with hypothalamic hamartomas. We report three adult patients who had gelastic epilepsy, defined as the presence of seizures with a prominent laugh component, including brain imaging, surface/invasive electroencephalography, positron emission tomography, and medical/surgical outcomes. None of the patients had hamartoma or other hypothalamic lesion. Two patients were classified as having refractory epilepsy (one had biopsy-proven neurocysticercosis and the other one hippocampal sclerosis and temporal cortical dysplasia). The third patient had no lesion on MRI and had complete control with carbamazepine. Both lesional patients underwent resective surgery, one with complete seizure control and the other one with poor outcome. Although hypothalamic hamartomas should always be ruled out in patients with gelastic epilepsy, laughing seizures can also arise from frontal and temporal lobe foci, which can be surgically removed. In addition, we present the first case of gelastic epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis.
RESUMEN
La epilepsia tiene una incidencia de 1 % en la población, de los cuales un tercio no responde al tratamiento farmacológico, que conlleva a discapacidad y morbilidad secundaria. Los pacientes con epilepsia refractaria requieren un estudio multidisciplinario para el origen de la epilepsia y realizar la resección quirúrgica. En cinco pacientes del Hospital Almenara hicimos la evaluación clínica, neuropsicológica, estudio estructural con resonancia magnética, PET y SPECT y videoelectroencefalografía de cuero cabelludo e intracraneal, con lo que realizamos la cirugía resectiva correspondiente. En 71 % de los pacientes se logró la supresión completa de las crisis epilépticas y en 29 % restantes, la disminución de la frecuencia en 75 %. La morbilidad adicional en los pacientes operados fue leve y manejable. El manejo multidisciplinario y tratamiento quirúrgico de la epilepsia refractaria en el hospital Almenara es altamente eficaz y se requiere la implementación de una unidad de Cirugía de Epilepsia.
Epilepsy has 1 % prevalence, until one third are refractory to pharmacological treatment, so it produces disability, morbidity and mortality. These patients requires multidisciplinary diagnostic approach to localize the origin and ideally resect it. In Almenara Hospital, seven patients has been studied clinically, neuropsychologically, brain imaging: structure magnetic resonance and functional with positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography and video electroencephalography non invasive initially and electrocorticography. After the study we decided and performed respective surgery. In 71 % of patients we have got complete suppression of seizures and in the remain 29 %, more than 75 % in seizure frequency. The side effects were mild and possible to treat. The multidisciplinary approach and surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy in the Almenara Hospital is highly efficient and it is needed to install an Specialized Unit.
