Epileptic monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia as cortical and subcortical dysfunction

Epilepsy Behav Case Rep. 2013 Jun 28:1:89-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ebcr.2013.05.002. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

We present the case of a patient with ictal monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia who became seizure-free after resection of a right frontal focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), type 2B. Interictal neuroophthalmological examination showed several beats of a monocular nystagmus and a spasm of the contralateral eye. An exclusively ictal monocular epileptic nystagmus could be an argument for an exclusively cortical involvement in monocular eye movement control. The interictal findings in our patient, however, argue for an irregular ictal activation of both the cortical frontal eye field and the brainstem.

Keywords: Epilepsy semiology; Epileptogenic zone; FCD, focal cortical dysplasia; History of neurology; Nystagmus; Ocular motility.