Epilepsy in Hypothalamic Hamartoma: Clinical and EEG Features

Hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) is a congenital malformation of the hypothalamus that may be asymptomatic or manifest with precocious puberty or seizures. Gelastic seizures often begin early in life, even in the newborn period, being manifest by frequent attacks of inappropriate laughter resulting from seizure activity in the HH. The scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) is often normal in children with gelastic seizures, such that the diagnosis of epilepsy and the finding of a HH are often delayed. In a proportion of children with HH, there is an epileptic progression, in which complex partial seizures with frontal, temporal, and lateralized clinical features appear, usually with the appearance of focal slowing and epileptiform activity on the interictal EEG. Further progression may ensue with the appearance of tonic or atonic drop attacks, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and epileptic spasms; rarely, infantile spasms may be the presenting seizure type. With the appearance of generalized seizures, the interictal EEG shows bilaterally synchronous and generalized epileptiform activity, often in abundance. The mechanism of this evolution is incompletely understood but neocortical seizure propagation and secondary epileptogenesis are believed to be important. Paralleling the development of the focal and generalized electroclinical manifestations in children with HH is usually slowing of development and the appearance of behavioral problems. Fortunately, many of these neurologic manifestations can be arrested, or reversed, with effective surgical treatment directed at the HH.

Keywords: hypothalamic hamartoma, gelastic seizure, tonic seizure, epileptic spasms, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, secondary epileptogenesis