滴疾性 痴呆 1例

A Case of Epileptic Dementia

The authors experienced and reported a 21-years-ᄋId female patient who was severely deteriorated following uncontrolled grand mal seizures lasting for more than 10 years. At first petit mal seizure was developed at the age of 7 and then the pattern of seizure was changed to grand mal type. She had achieved normal physical and mental developments till the appearance of grand mal seizure, but she has become deteriorated gradually with repeated seizures of 7-8 times a day. Deteriorations have been progressed markedly and finally she became a severely deteriorated dementic like a 1-2 years old baby since the age of 19. She could not walk and speak a word except “mamma” when she was brought to emergency room. Diffuse scattering of slow waves and spikes were noticed on the E.E.G. and moderate degree of cerebral atrophy on computerized tomography of the brain. With the beginning of anticonvulsant therapy, the seizure was controlled almost completely and hence her mental and physical states have become improved steadily during 9 months of follow-up treatment. And at the end of follow-up period, she became to be able to speak freely with others and carry out usual life activities with minimal limitations. In this case, we can presume that her severe deterioration have been resulted primarily from long-standing hypoxia of the brain due to repeated clinical and subclinical seizures. But the possibilities that the other factors such as adverse effects of anticonvulsants, folate deficiency and social factors could play a role in part can not be excluded entirely. And also we call attention to the fact that epileptic deterioration can be prevented through adequate control of seizures and support of epileptic individuals by various means.