Periventricular heterotopia and epilepsy

We report a family with nodular subependymal masses of heterotopic gray matter occurring in six members in four generations. Only female members of the family are affected, and there is a high rate of spontaneous abortion, consistent with X-linked dominant inheritance, and lack of viability in affected males. Both in this family and in sporadic cases of subependymal heterotopias there is a high frequency of convulsive disorders, suggesting that epilepsy may be the major clinical manifestation of this developmental defect.