Ictal Forced Repetitive Swearing in Frontal Lobe Epilepsy: Case report and review of the literature

• Authors: Marjan Dolatshahi , Alexei Yankovsky
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Introduction. Dominant presentation of ictal forced repetitive swearing has been rarely addressed and could be misdiagnosed.Case report. We report a 45-year-old man with a long history of right frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) who developed forced repetitive swearing during hypermotor seizures. His seizures were refractory to different antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Scalp video-EEG telemetry suggested a right frontal epileptic focus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) in the right mesial frontal lobe. Intracranial implantation with video-EEG recordings confirmed seizures originating from the MRI lesion. Patient underwent right frontal lobe resection followed by seizure freedom in the last five years on a single AED. Neuropathology confirmed FCD type IIB.Discussion. The following aspects of the case are discussed: FLE and ictal vocalization, swearing, FLE and aggression. We emphasize the differences among ictal vocalisation, verbal automatism and ictal speech. We propose that ictal swearing might fit a verbal automatism definition.Conclusion. Ictal forced repetitive swearing can be a manifestation of hypermotor seizures in FLE and should not be misdiagnosed.

Keywords

EN

ictal swearing; frontal lobe epilepsy; lateralization

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Journal of Epileptology
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 113-119

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2014

online

1 - 3 - 2015

received

27 - 8 - 2014

accepted

5 - 11 - 2014

Contributors

author

Marjan Dolatshahi

• Section of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada

author

Alexei Yankovsky

• Section of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/joepi-2015-0019