Psychosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Psychosis, including details on clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.

Prolonged postictal psychosis with forced normalization (Landolt) in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Akanuma N, Kanemoto K, Adachi N, Kawasaki J, Ito M, Onuma T

Department of Psychiatry, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous and Muscular Disorders, National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan. nozomi.akanuma@kcl.ac.uk

We report two patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who developed prolonged episodes of postictal psychosis (12 weeks) following a bout of seizures and a lucid interval. No drug toxicity was noted, and no recurrent or continuous seizures were observed during their prolonged psychotic episodes. Repeated EEGs during the period of psychosis showed that their habitual focal epileptiform abnormalities had disappeared. Responses to neuroleptic treatments were not remarkable. Their psychotic symptoms gradually dispelled after their epileptiform abnormalities reappeared. These observations may suggest possible overlapping mechanisms between a prolongation of psychosis and suppression of epileptiform discharges on a scalp EEG.

Published 11 April 2005 in Epilepsy Behav, 6(3): 456-9.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Psychosis Research Today. All Rights Reserved.