Related Experiment Videos
Spitting automatism in complex partial seizures: a nondominant temporal localizing sign?
N F Voss1, K G Davies, F A Boop
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38103, USA.
Epilepsia
|January 30, 1999
Summary
Spitting during complex partial seizures is a rare automatism. This study suggests that this behavior may indicate seizures originating from the nondominant temporal lobe, aiding in epilepsy localization.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Epileptology
Background:
- Ictal automatisms are involuntary behaviors during seizures.
- Spitting as an ictal automatism is infrequently documented in medical literature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the lateralizing and localizing significance of spitting as an ictal automatism.
- To determine if spitting can help pinpoint the brain region responsible for seizures.
Main Methods:
- A review of patients with intractable epilepsy who underwent surgical treatment.
- Analysis of seizure semiology, specifically focusing on spitting automatisms.
- Correlation of ictal spitting with the origin of epileptic seizures.
Main Results:
- Five patients exhibited stereotyped spitting as an automatism during complex partial seizures.
- All identified patients had seizure onset in the right temporal lobe.
- No cases of ictal spitting were observed in patients with left hemisphere seizure onset.
Conclusions:
- Spitting, while uncommon, can serve as a valuable localizing sign in epilepsy.
- This automatism is associated with seizure onset in the nondominant (right) temporal lobe.