Benign infantile seizures with mild gastroenteritis: study of 22 patients

To analyze the electroclinical features, aetiology and outcome in patients with normal neurological examination and psychomotor development who presented seizures during a mild gastroenteritis (MG).

Evaluation of the clinical charts of 22 patients who were assessed in the Neurology Department, Hospital Nacional de Pediatría Prof. Dr. JP Garrahan between 1999 and 2007.

Twelve patients were boys and 10 were girls, the age of onset ranged from 5 to 26 months, and the median age was 10 months. Rotavirus antigen test in stool was positive in 9 of 18 studied patients. The seizures were brief, focal with secondary generalization in 15 patients (68.5%), apparently generalized in 5 (22.5%) and focal in two (9%). Seven of the patients (35%) had more than one seizure in 24h. The interictal EEG was normal in all patients. Neuroradiological studies were performed in 19 patients with a normal result. No patient was put on long-term treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Four patients had subsequent mild gastroenteritis and two of them presented convulsions during the disease. After between 12 and 67 months of follow-up, all patients had normal psychomotor development and neurological examination.

In this study we confirmed the association of benign infantile seizures (BIS) and MG with or without rotavirus. The identification of this entity allows avoiding unnecessary complementary studies and treatment with antiepileptic drugs.