Preventing seizures from "Pocket Monsters": a way to control reflex epilepsy.

Abstract

Reflex epilepsy has been the subject of fascinating case reports, emphasizing the variety and peculiarity of its phenomenology. Reflex seizures are a unique phenomenon by which a sensory input is required to trigger the epileptic response. Unlike the generic factors that predispose to seizures (i.e., fatigue, sleep deprivation), the trigger is highly specific and strictly limited to one sensory modality (visual, auditory, somatosensory) or to one function (reading, eating, walking). Even within one specific modality, the reflex response may depend exclusively on selective parameters, such as a defined frequency range of intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) in photosensitive epilepsy or tapping a specific part of the body in sensory reflex seizures. Though these patients are affected by heterogeneous disorders, the basic mechanism is presumably a similar genetic or acquired defect in the inhibitory pathways. However, there is still no common thread that unites the polymorphic manifestations of reflex epilepsy into one syndrome. Thus, the term ‘reflex epilepsy‘ is used as an umbrella under which all types of seizures induced by a specific input are classified. Because the response to conventional antiepileptic drugs is often poor, stimulus avoidance may be …