A Case of Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy in Infancy.

Koh,  Young Jae; Seol,  In Joon

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society 1997;5(1):133-137.
Published online October 30, 1997.

A Case of Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy in Infancy.

Abstract

Severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy(SMEI) is a condition beginning with recurrent, prolonged febrile convulsion in normal children, followed within months to 4 years by generalized tonic clonic seizures, partial seizures, atypical absences, myoclonic seizures and status epilepticus. The seizures are generally difficult to control. Carbamazepine which is appropriate for partial seizures, is not effective and may aggravate generalized seizures, but sodium valproate has been reported to be helpful. The evolution is always bad with persistent seizures and mental retardation. We experienced a severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy in a 16-month-old male patient who had episodes of prolonged febrile convulsions followed by mixed type of seizures. We report a case of SMEI with a brief review of literatures.