Gelastic seizures involving the right parietal lobe

Abstract

Gelastic seizures have been described in various epilepsies arising from the temporal or frontal lobes, although the most commonly encountered form is related to the presence of an hypothalamic hamartoma. We report a patient with gelastic seizures involving the right parietal lobe. Our patient, a 32-year-old man, underwent video-EEG monitoring, interictal and ictal brain SPECTs during gelastic seizures. Subtraction ictal SPECT co-registered to MRI (SISCOM), was performed to localize any ictal hyperperfusion during these gelastic seizures. The seizures consisted of brief staring followed by smiling and laughing. Electroencephalography during the gelastic seizures showed rhythmic sharp waves in the right parietal lobe. SISCOM showed ictal hyperperfusion in the right parietal lobe and medial portions of right cerebellum. Our findings suggest that the right parietal lobe may actively participate in the particular epileptogenic network generating gelastic seizures.