Epilepsy–aphasia syndromes

Abstract

The combination of aphasia and epileptic seizures is characteristic for Landau–Kleffner syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. These disorders affect young children with previously normal psychomotor development, causing profound regression with loss of receptive and expressive language capabilities. The etiologies of these childhood epilepsy–aphasia syndromes are largely unknown, and the long-term prognosis is poor. The seizures usually remit in adolescence, however most patients show persistent language dysfunction. In autosomal dominant lateral temporal lobe epilepsy, the aphasic symptoms are transitory and mostly restricted to the ictal phase. The monogenic etiology of this rare seizure disorder offers the possibility to study the molecular basis of epilepsy–aphasia syndromes.

Keywords::

• ADLTE
• aphasia
• autosomal dominant lateral temporal lobe epilepsy
• childhood disintegrative disorder
• epilepsy
• Landau–Kleffner syndrome
• language regression
• LGI1

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.