Video game-induced reflex seizures via a smartphone

Abstract

Reflex seizures are consistently evoked by a specific afferent stimulus or by patient activity. Patients experiencing reflex seizures when playing a game on a mobile phone are rarely reported. We describe a boy with reflex seizures after prolonged exposure to the game, Cut the rope, on his mobile phone. The video-EEG documented electroclinical events characterized by distal myoclonic jerks of the upper limbs, in combination with irregular, diffuse spike-and-wave and polyspike-and-wave discharges on EEG, followed by a tonic-clonic seizure. Playing video games on mobile phones may potentially induce reflex seizures, similar to other commonly used platforms such as docking stations connected to video screens.

Keywords: epilepsy; reflex seizure; video game; video-EEG.