Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery in Children Through Novel Biomarkers and Enhanced Localization
Published on: September 20, 2024
Lateralizing value of shoulder dislocation in seizure semiology
Miguel A Arevalo-Astrada1, Paulina Kyriakopoulos1, Tadeu A Fantaneanu1
1Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, 501 Smyth Box 511, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada.
Objective:
To analyze the lateralizing value of shoulder dislocation in seizure semiology of patients with focal epilepsy.
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients with shoulder dislocation secondary to seizures who were seen at our institution from April 1, 2002 to October 15, 2023.
Results:
A total of 87 patients met the inclusion criteria. Forty-four (50.6 %) had generalized epilepsy with tonic-clonic seizures, 22 (25.3 %) had focal epilepsy, and 21 (24.1 %) had epilepsy with unknown onset tonic-clonic seizures. Of the 22 patients who had focal epilepsy, 20 (91 %) had contralateral shoulder dislocation (95 % CI [71-99 %]). This association between seizure focus laterality and contralateral shoulder dislocation was statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, p < 0.001).
Significance:
We found that shoulder dislocations were more common in patients with generalized compared to focal epilepsy. More important, most patients with focal epilepsy had contralateral shoulder dislocation. We think that this can serve as a potential novel lateralizing sign during the presurgical epilepsy evaluation, though it requires validation in larger, prospective studies.
More Related Videos
09:32Network Analysis of Foramen Ovale Electrode Recordings in Drug-resistant Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patients
Published on: December 18, 2016
06:28Author Spotlight: Unraveling Seizure Dynamics and Novel Therapeutics for Status Epilepticus Using CMOS High-Density Microelectrode Array Systems
Published on: September 27, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Seizures: Classification
Seizures are typically classified into two main categories: focal and generalized seizures.
Focal Seizures
Focal seizures originate from specific regions of the brain. These seizures are further sub-classified into two types:
Lateralization
Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...