[Semiologic value of tonic-axial crises in children (author's transl)]

The tonic-axial crises described clinically and by electroencephalo-grams by Ouachi, Roger and Gastaut in 1961, are encountered with relative frequency in specific forms of infantile epilepsy and they establish the principal nucleus of the appearing manifestations in some cases of childhood epileptic encephalopathy. We have studied 43 epileptic children who have displayed tonic-axial crises, taking into consideration the absence or existence of concrete antecedents of cerebral attack, the moment of appearance of the tonix-axial crises in relation to the commencement of the critical manifestations, the type or types of epileptic crises, the circumstances of appearance of tonic-axial crises and its influence upon the further development of the child. Its physiopathology is questioned and the tonic-axial crises is considered as a semiologic crossroad in the evolution in the secondary generalized epilepsy.