Special etiologies in the classification of epilepsy--with special reference to brain malformations

I analyzed 18 cases of brain malformations detected by autopsy and five cases of lissencephaly diagnosed by CT scan or MRI. 1) Autopsy Cases Brain malformations were highly complicated, and many cases showed more than one type of brain malformation. Epileptic seizures were observed in 13 of 18 cases. In most cases, the seizures were characterized by infantile onset, a high incidence of tonic seizures and difficulties in controlling them. 2) Patients with Lissencephaly They all had severely retarded psychomotor development. Tonic seizures were observed in all the five patients, two of whom had a past history of infantile spasms. The EEG patterns of these patients were varied. It is thought that a relationship exists between the severity of CT or MRI findings and that of EEG findings.