title: Epileptic and imaging findings in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy with ulegyria.
abstract: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to fetal or neonatal asphyxia is a major cause of acute mortality and chronic disability involving cerebral palsy, seizures, and mental retardation. The gestational age of the infant is one of the main variables determining the neuropathological picture of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, and ulegyria (one of its neuropathological correlates) typically affects full-term infants. The damage usually involves the deeper sulcal portion of the convolutions while sparing the crowns, and includes subcortical white matter atrophy and gliosis. The aim of this study was to characterize the electroclinical features of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy when ulegyria is one of its main neuropathological features. To this end, nine patients with MRI-proven ulegyria and epilepsy underwent a complete neurological work-up. The ulegyric lesions were mainly distributed in the parasagittal watershed areas and frequently associated with other hypoxic-ischemic lesions. The neurological picture was characterized in most patients by mental retardation, motor deficits, and drug-refractory partial epilepsy. The ulegyria in our patients was associated with a complex clinical picture: epilepsy was a prominent component, and its severity directly correlated with the extent of the ulegyria and the associated hypoxic-ischemic lesions. Drug refractoriness was an almost constant correlate of this form of symptomatic epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale Neurologico, Via Celoria 11, Milan, Italy. fvillani@istituto-besta.it
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Villani
authors.forename: Ludovico
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: D'Incerti
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Granata
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vitali
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiapparini
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Avanzini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009421:Nervous System Malformations / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009460:Neurologic Examination