[Transcranial magnetic stimulation]. / Estimulación magnética transcraneal.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive tool for the electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex, and for evaluation of the excitability of the motor cortex and pathways. Transcranial magnetic stimulation can be applied as single pulses of stimulation, pairs of stimuli separated by variable intervals to the same or different brain areas, or as trains of repetitive stimuli at various frequencies. Single stimuli can depolarize neurons and evoke measurable effects. Series of stimuli (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) can modify the excitability of the cerebral cortex at the stimulated site and also at remote areas along functional anatomical connections. TMS might provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of the neural circuitry underlying neurological and psychiatric disorders, but more work is needed to establish the role of transcranial magnetic stimulation in clinical neurology.

[Familial benign partial epilepsy of early infancy]. / Epilepsia parcial benigna familiar de la infancia temprana.

INTRODUCTION AND CLINICAL CASES: We present two patients who at the ages of 5 and 17 months respectively presented with convulsive crises with motor signs, of partial onset and secondary generalization, which eventually became normal. Both patients had a family history of first degree relatives with similar illnesses and are at present-five years later-well and with normal development, school achievement and neurological examination findings. The clinical characteristics, normal biochemical and neuroimaging investigations and EEG characteristics suggest the diagnosis of benign partial epilepsy of early infancy. This syndrome is characterized by its appearance during the first year of life, having no known etiological factors, with partial crises occurring several times a day and with a course leading to remission. Its frequency may be greater than is thought. There is a pattern of dominant autosomal inheritance, with a gene recently found on chromosome 19. CONCLUSION: We consider that this syndrome should be included in the International Classification of Epilepsy and Epileptic Syndromes as benign familial idiopathic partial epilepsy.