Jeavons syndrome as an occipital cortex initiated generalized epilepsy: Further evidence from a patient with a photic-induced occipital seizure

Abstract

Jeavons syndrome (JS) is characterized by the triad of eyelid myoclonia with or without absences, eye closure-induced generalized paroxysms and photosensitivity. Occasional generalized tonic–clonic seizures may also occur. Despite having been claimed as a distinct entity among the IGEs by several authors, its inclusion as an epilepsy syndrome in the ILAE classifications is still a matter of debate. The findings of both interictal and ictal posterior focal abnormalities during eyelid myoclonia have led to the hypothesis of considering JS as an occipital cortex initiated generalized epilepsy [1]. Moreover, a recent study using EEG-fMRI and voxel brain morphometry protocols in patients with JS demonstrated anatomo-functional abnormalities involving a circuit that includes the occipital cortex and the cortical/subcortical systems physiologically involved in the motor control of eye closure and eye movements [2]. Here we describe a patient with JS who presented a photicinduced focal seizure with electroclinical semiology typical of the occipital lobe. To our knowledge, focal seizures of occipital origin have not been previously reported in patients with JS.