Parkinson's Disease and Cryptogenic Epilepsy.

Andre Y. Son,Alec Gurevich,Britt Stone,Milton C. Biagioni,Dorian Kaminski,Alessandro Di Rocco

doi:10.1155/2016/3745631

Abstract

Epilepsy is an uncommon comorbidity of Parkinson's disease (PD) and has been considered not directly associated with PD. We present five patients (3 men and 2 women; ages 49–85) who had concomitant PD and cryptogenic epilepsy. Although rare, epilepsy can coexist with PD and their coexistence may influence the progression of PD. While this may be a chance association, an evolving understanding of the neurophysiological basis of either disease may suggest a mechanistic association.

Highlights

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is traditionally considered primarily a subcortical disorder with late cortical involvement
Among the five subjects reported, two developed seizures after they had been diagnosed with PD, while the other three had a recognized seizure disorder prior to developing PD symptoms
This may be a reflection of summative effects of seizures in an already affected neurological background, the additional burden of epilepsy medication in patients already exposed for years to neurological drugs may play a role

Summary

Introduction

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is traditionally considered primarily a subcortical disorder with late cortical involvement. The damage seems to involve, at least in part, the simultaneous processes of both the diffuse progressive deposition of alpha-synuclein [1] and the secondary biological changes that disrupt neural connectivity [3]. These processes reinforce the concept of dysfunctional neural networks as a potential basis of symptomatology in PD [4]. Considering PD in this regard allows one to posit the potential associations it may have with other diseases involving dysfunctional neural circuits. For example, is such a disease but to date has not been considered associated with PD [5]. We report five subjects with PD followed up at our institution with comorbid cryptogenic epilepsy

Methods

Discussion