RESEARCH ARTICLE
Ischemic Stroke and Epilepsy in a Patient with Tourette´s Syndrome: Association with the Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Good Response to Levetiracetam
M Seijo-Martínez1, * , J.A Mosquera-Martínez2, S Romero-Yuste2, J Cruz-Martinez2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 32
Last Page: 34
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-2-32
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X00802010032
Article History:
Received Date: 7/12/2007Revision Received Date: 14/1/2008
Acceptance Date: 14/5/2008
Electronic publication date: 12/6/2008
Collection year: 2008
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The role played by different humoral factors, including antiphospholipid antibodies, in the pathogenesis of Tourette syndrome (TS) is still presently unclear. We present a patient with chronic and severe TS who, at the age of 16 years, presented an ischemic stroke in the left posterior cerebral artery and/or postero-inferior temporal branch of the left medial cerebral artery. A complete study was negative with the exception of a positive lupus anticoagulant. The stroke was related with the primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The stroke manifested visual abnormalities and thereafter by secondary generalized complex partial seizures. The epileptic syndrome was initially difficult to control but responded dramatically to levetiracetam. With this therapy, the manifestations of TS, especially the tics, improved. We conclude that some TS cases may present APS. In addition, levetiracetam may be useful in the management of TS. Further investigations should pursue both these facts.
