Seizures and Neurofibromatosis I

Twenty-two (6%) patients, ages 5 to 57 years, had developed seizures among 359 attending a neurofibromatosis clinic at the Dept of Neurology, Children’s Hospital, Harvard Med School, Boston. The majority of seizures could be attributed to causes unrelated to NF1: 6 had febrile seizures and 3 had primary generalized epilepsy with onset before 5 years. Complex partial seizures in 9 (41%), infantile spasms in 1, and seizures with aqueductal stenosis in 2 may have been caused by NF1, but no specific brain lesions were detected. None of the seizures was a symptom of brain tumor, and neuroimaging failed to uncover a seizure focus. Routine EEG of all patients with NF1 was considered unproductive. [1]