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Pharyngeal dysesthesia as an aura in temporal lobe epilepsy
L Carmant1, E Carrazana, U Kramer
1Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Service Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Purpose:
Because oral, buccal, and sometimes oral-pharyngeal manifestations in epilepsy are linked to the central-temporal region, we studied 3 patients with childhood-onset partial seizures that consistently began with pharyngeal dysesthesias, described as either throat tingling or burning, to localize seizure onset.
Methods:
Because of an intractable clinical course, each patient underwent invasive video-EEG monitoring, which localized the epileptogenic zone to the mesial temporal lobe. The 3 patients underwent temporal lobe resections.
Results:
All 3 patients achieved remission of the pharyngeal auras and a 90-100% reduction in the frequency of their seizures.
Conclusions:
Pharyngeal dysesthesias can be the initial manifestation of complex partial seizures (CPS) of temporal lobe origin.