[The "trout phenomenon": a rare symptom of epileptic seizures]

Petechial eruptions may be the consequence of tonic-clonic seizures. Usually they are located on face, neck or breast. We report on a 25-year-old male patient suffering from unclassified seizures occurring at night. Seizure frequency was one a month over a six-month period. Following the seizures he regularly observed periocular petechial eruptions which disappeared within three days. EEG, MRI and laboratory investigations, including a hematological screening, were normal. We diagnosed an epileptic disorder and treated the patient with phenobarbitone. Within the next seven months he remained free of seizures. The petechial eruptions probably resulted from capillary bleedings during the tonic phase of a tonic-clonic seizure.