This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Allan Krumholz, MD; Barney J. Stern, MD; Elyce G. Stern

Arch Neurol. 1991;48(8):842-844.

Abstract
• Seizures are a recognized manifestation of neurosarcoidosis, but their clinical relevance is not well established. We reviewed the characteristics, clinical correlations, and prognosis of seizures in 79 patients with neurosarcoidosis. Thirteen (15%) of the 79 patients had seizures, and in eight patients (10%) a seizure was the first manifestation of neurosarcoidosis. These seizures were generalized tonic-clonic seizures in 12 patients (92%) and partial seizures in four patients (31%). The patients with neurosarcoidosis with seizures were more likely to have a progressive or relapsing clinical course and intracranial mass lesions (four patients [31%]), encephalopathy or vasculopathy (eight patients [62%]), or hydrocephalus (five patients [38%]). These central nervous system disorders, rather than the seizures per se, were responsible for most of the serious morbidity and the two deaths (15%) among our patients with seizures. Indeed seizure control was good in 11 (85%) of 13 patients treated with combinations of steroids and antiepileptic medications. Seizures are an important sign in neurosarcoidosis because they are associated with more severe and progressive or relapsing forms of central nervous system sarcoidosis and may be an early manifestation of such disorders.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Neurology, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Dr Krumholz), and the Division of Neurology, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Dr Stern and Ms Stern), Baltimore, Md.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication December 4, 1990.

Reprint requests to Department of Neurology N4W46, The University of Maryland Medical Center, 22 S Greene St, Baltimore, MD 21201 (Dr Krumholz).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Neurosarcoidosis: a study of 30 new cases
Joseph and Scolding
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2009;80:297-304.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Sarcoidosis of the nervous system
Joseph and Scolding
PN 2007;7:234-244.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Aggressive Therapy for Neurosarcoidosis: Long-term Follow-up of 48 Treated Patients
Scott et al.
Arch Neurol 2007;64:691-696.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neurosarcoid Presents Differently in Children Than in Adults
Baumann and Robertson
Pediatrics 2003;112:e480-486.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

MR of CNS Sarcoidosis: Correlation of Imaging Features to Clinical Symptoms and Response to Treatment
Christoforidis et al.
Am. J. Neuroradiol. 1999;20:655-669.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Diagnosis and Management of Neurological Sarcoidosis
Lower et al.
Arch Intern Med 1997;157:1864-1868.
ABSTRACT  

Case 37-1996- A 51-Year-Old Man with Visual Problems and an Intracranial Mass
Gittinger and Hedley-Whyte
NEJM 1996;335:1668-1674.
FULL TEXT  

The Treatment of Neurosarcoidosis With Cyclosporine
Stern et al.
Arch Neurol 1992;49:1065-1072.
ABSTRACT