Lateralizing value of Todd's palsy in patients with epilepsy

Abstract

The authors retrospectively investigated the value of Todd's palsy (TP) in lateralizing the hemisphere of seizure onset in patients admitted for video-EEG monitoring in a tertiary epilepsy center. In 29 patients, a postictal hemiparesis was observed. TP always occurred contralateral to the epileptogenic hemisphere in 27 patients (93%). In the remaining two patients, the seizure onset could not be lateralized. In some patients, TP occurred after a seizure without focal motor features or secondary generalization.