[A study of Gobbi's syndrome in Spanish population].
BACKGROUND
The association of epilepsy, occipital cerebral calcifications and coeliac disease was recognized for the first time in 1992 by Gobbi as an independent syndrome. He emphasized that it occurred almost exclusively in persons of Italian origin.


OBJECTIVE
To define the prevalence of this syndrome in the Spanish population with a view to confirming its probably genetic etiopathogenesis.


METHODS
Neurological studies were done in 44 coeliac patients, as were cranial CT scans. All cases of Spanish origin described in the literature were noted.


RESULTS
In the patients with coeliac disease there was an increased incidence of crises and generalized epilepsy, but no patient was found to have occipital calcifications. Only 12 cases of Spanish origin were found, mainly in the Canary Isles and Mediterranean littoral, in spite of the high incidence of coeliac disease in Spain. No familial cases were seen.


CONCLUSIONS
We suspect a genetic etiopathogenesis, associated with different environmental factors, to be the origin of the syndrome. This is supported by the common geographical origin of most cases and the anatomopathological findings described in those cases studied.
Martínez-Bermejo
A
A
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Infantil La Paz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España. med014988@nacom.es
Polanco
I
I
Royo
A
A
López-Martín
V
V
Arcas
J
J
Tendero
A
A
Fernández-Jaén
A
A
Pascual-Castroviejo
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013577:Syndrome; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed