LANDAU-KLEFFNER SYNDROME - MUCH MORE THAN APHASIA AND EPILEPSY

Landau-Kleffner is currently considered a rare syndrome that combines acquired aphasia and epilepsy in children. We present two cases and di scuss evidence in the literature that suggest how this syndrome is act ually only part of a more generalized situation in which epilepsy (a p aroxysmal disorder) produces or is accompanied by a prolonged or perma nent derangement of neuronal circuits responsible for higher cortical functions, including language. This reappraisal of the identity of the syndrome could have interesting consequences not only for the study o f epilepsy but also for the study of higher cortical functions. (C) 19 97 Academic Press.