Epilepsia Partialis Continua as Presenting Manifestation of AIDS: A Rarity. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ramanujam, Bhargavi; Dash, Deepa; Dabla, Surekha; Tripathi, Manjari; Srivastava, M. V. Padma
• Is Part Of: Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care. Volume 15:Number 1(2016:Jan./Feb.)
• Page Start: 19
• Page End: 22
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: epilepsia partialis continua -- HIV -- CMV encephalitis -- PLEDS; AIDS (Disease) -- Periodicals; 616.9792
• DOI: 10.1177/2325957415570743
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2325-9574

Abstract

Seizures, most commonly generalized tonic–clonic, are common in known human immune deficiency virus (HIV) sero-positive patients, and they usually have a focal lesion on brain imaging. However, it is very unusual to see a patient with no premorbid illness presenting with epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) and then being detected HIV seropositive with an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-defining illness. We report the case of a teenaged boy with no past significant history or known high-risk behavior who presented with recurrent focal seizures of 5 days' duration, EPC, and encephalopathy. His electroencephalogram showed periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDS), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed abnormal signal changes in the right parieto-occipital cortex and thalamus, both as yet unreported in cytomegalovirus (CMV) encephalitis, which was diagnosed by the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis.