Landau Kleffner Syndrome (acquired epileptic aphasia)
• Presentation:
- Age: between 3 and 8 years
- Seizures types:
* Normal speech, then a seizure may occur (GTCS and atypical absence), speech regresses
* Sometime mistaken with hearing loss, but the problem is the processing of information.
* Seizures happen in 7 out of 10 patients.
• Diagnosis:
- On EEG:
* Spikes in temporal region
* More active while patient has aphasia
• Causes:
- Structural abnormalities of the brain:
- Genetic causes
- Metabolic Causes
- Infectious Causes
- Birth Injury
• Prognosis:
- Seizures usually controlled
- Speech could improve or not.
• Treatment:
- AEDS: valproic acid, ethosuximide, denzodiazepines
- Steroids
- Gamma globulin (a natural protein substance that is part of the blood)
- Surgical treatment: multiple subpial transections (surgery that cuts nerve fibers in the outer layers of the brain while avoiding the vital functions concentrated in the deeper layers of brain tissue.)