PELLAGRA-LIKE SKIN LESIONS DUE TO THE KETOGENIC DIET

Abstract

It is my belief that the following case report constitutes an illustration of one of the dangers in the use of the ketogenic diet in the treatment of idiopathic epilepsy: REPORT OF CASE Mrs. H. E. R., an American, aged 33, 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm.) tall, weighing 112 pounds (50.8 Kg.), came to the clinic complaining of attacks of convulsions, lasting from fifteen to twenty minutes, followed by stupor. She cried easily and was nervous and excitable; her memory was poor and she was not able to concentrate. The attacks of convulsions had begun four years before, appearing three weeks after the birth of a child. Following the first convulsion she had been unconscious for six hours. She had had these attacks frequently, having as many as two or three a day, until she became pregnant again a little more than two years before; during this pregnancy she