Epilepsia partialis continua: clinical and electrophysiological features of adult patients

In this study we reviewed the clinical, electrophysiological and neuroimaging data of 21 patients with epilepsia partialis continua (EPC), which is a rare form of epilepsy with focal motor seizures persisting hours to years. We found infections, cerebrovascular events and tumors as the most common causes of EPC in adults. SSPE was also shown as a cause of EPC. EPC in SSPE patients was resistant to therapies and persisted more than 1 year. EPC is usually a predictor of poor outcome and 29% of patients died after EPC in this study. As prognosis is usually bad and as response to treatment is poor in patients who had EPC, early diagnosis and treatment of the underlying cause is important. Although the most common etiologies are infections, cerebrovascular events and tumors, if EPC persists several months SSPE should be kept in mind as a rare cause of EPC. MRI should be repeated in chronic cases to show dysplastic cortex, which was shown in 1 patient in this study.