A patient with a 44-year history of epilepsia partialis continua caused by a perirolandic cortical dysplasia

Abstract

Epilepsia partialis continua (EPC), or Kojevnikov's syndrome, is a rare epileptic syndrome arising from a variety of lesions in the perirolandic area. We report herein a 46-year-old woman with drug-resistant EPC due to a cortical dysplasia in the left frontoparietal region. For 44 years she has suffered continuous right-sided jerks, particularly in the right arm and hand, with an average frequency of 10-20 jerks per minute. During EEG recordings her jerks were associated with spikes and sharp waves over the left frontocentroparietal region, sometimes also with bursts of high-voltage generalized spike-wave complexes with a maximum bicentrally, followed by an electrodecrement. Despite the continuous jerks she is independent in daily life activities, and she considers the jerks not severe enough to justify surgery, i.e., multiple subpial transections.