[Rett syndrome and the adult patient]

A 29 year-old woman was diagnosed as suffering from Rett's syndrome on the bases of clinical examination and a good description of the patient's early development in childhood and adolescence. The woman showed all the typical clinical symptoms and signs of Rett's syndrome. In particular, she had an aggressive and difficult epilepsy. Some of the typical symptoms and signs in childhood Rett's syndrome are less prominent when the patients become adults. It is important that doctors consider Rett's syndrome as a possible cause of mental retardation and multifunctional disability in women.