PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Al-Qahtani, Mashael
AU  - Khan, Sonia A.
AU  - Kabiraj, Mohammed
AU  - Khoja, Waleed A.
TI  - Non-convulsive status epilepticus presenting with Wernicke’s aphasia
DP  - 2009 Jul 01
TA  - Neurosciences Journal
PG  - 284--286
VI  - 14
IP  - 3
4099  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/14/3/284.short
4100  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/14/3/284.full
SO  - Neurosciences (Riyadh)2009 Jul 01; 14
AB  - Ictal aphasia in adults is a rare phenomenon. Most reported cases manifest with non-fluent (Broca) aphasia. Ictal fluent (Wernicke) aphasia is less common. We report a 47-year-old, right-handed woman that presented with recurrent episodes of non-convulsive seizures in the form of Wernicke’s aphasia for 2 weeks. An MRI of the brain showed an old cerebral infarction in the left parieto-occipital area. Scalp EEG revealed continuous periodic sharp waves at the left temporal regions with diffusion to the whole left hemisphere and at occasions to the right. This is followed by variable periods of post ictal slowing. Recurrence of the described ictal pattern was noted. Management of status epilepticus was started in the form of intravenous diazepam and a loading dose of phenytoin and phenobarbitone. After treatment, she improved clinically and the EEG improved with disappearance of the left temporal ictal rhythm and normalization of the EEG background. Thus, establishing the diagnosis of non-convulsive partial status epilepticus manifesting as ictal aphasia.