ABSTRACT
The medicolegal problems associated with posttraumatic epilepsy are frequently related to the assessment of the cause of traumatic brain injury and to the complexity of forensic examination. We carried out a study of 28 patients with posttraumatic epilepsy seen at the Neurological Department of Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia. We obtained a detailed history and performed neurological evaluation, EEG monitoring, and neuropsychological evaluation. For the forensic examination, we specified the date of stabilization and the damages to be compensated according to the different Tunisian forensic assessment scales. Traumatic brain injury was caused mainly by road traffic accidents. In 15 patients, posttraumatic epilepsy was controlled by treatment after 5 years. Eighteen patients, victims of road traffic accidents, requested legal compensation. The date of stabilization was determined in 21 patients. Permanent partial disability was associated with severe trauma, young age, and uncontrolled seizures.
Subject(s)
Brain Injuries/complications , Epilepsy/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Electroencephalography , Epilepsy/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , TunisiaABSTRACT
We report a Tunisian patient born from consanguineous marriage affected with progressive myoclonus epilepsy and cognitive decline, consistent with the diagnosis of Lafora disease. Genetic analysis showed a novel c.659 T>A mutation on exon 3 of the EPM2A gene, converting a leucine to a glutamine residue at amino acid position 220 (p.Leu220Gln), in the dual-specificity phosphatase domain.
