FITS OF WEEPING AS AN UNUSUAL MANIFESTATION OF REFLEX EPILEPSY INDUCED BY SPEAKING - CASE-REPORT

We report the case of a 62-year-old man with no past CNS history who f or some weeks had had fits of weeping that lasted from 30'' to 3', pre cede by any aura; sensorium was clear; there were no symptoms of any k ind after the paroxysm; in the course of them his facial expression wa s that of weeping with sobbing and tears, but no corresponding affecti ve-emotional content, as reported by the patient, who was able to conv erse during these episodes. The fits were easily triggered by speaking . EEG during an episode showed a slight flattening of the trace, high voltage sharp waves at 4-6 c/s appeared, especially over the left hemi sphere. CT brainscan and cerebral angiogram revealed a large space-occ upying lesion of cystic-necrotic appearance with considerable mass eff ect and characteristics of glioblastoma. Treatment with barbiturates e nded the paroxysmal weeping. We consider that these episodes were simp le partial epileptic seizure according to the WHO classification of 19 81.