title: Generalized periodic EEG activity in two cases of neurosyphilis.
abstract: Neurosyphilis is a recognized cause of epileptic seizures and cognitive impairment, but is not usually associated with the finding of generalized periodic activity in the EEG. We report two similar cases characterized by progressive cognitive impairment followed by partial complex seizures, in whom the EEG showed generalized periodic activity. Both cerebrospinal fluid and the response to penicillin therapy confirmed the diagnoses of neurosyphilis in the two cases. The finding of EEG generalized periodic activity in patients with cognitive or behavioral disorders is usually associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, although there are other conditions, some of them potentially reversible, which may also present this EEG abnormality. Neurosyphilis has tended not to be included among them, and our present findings support the importance of first ruling out neurosyphilis in those patients with cognitive or behavioral disorders associated with generalized periodic epileptiform discharges.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anghinah
authors.forename: Erica C S
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Nádia I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waksman
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nitrini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009494:Neurosyphilis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010507:Periodicity