Ikeda T, Yamanaka T, Fukushima T, Araki S
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kumamoto University Medical School.
Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 1991 Sep;31(9):1032-4.
We reported a case with sequelae of SMON and painful tonic seizure (PTS). The patient was a 50-year-old woman. Onset of SMON was when she was 28 years old. She has been suffering from decreased sensation and dysesthesia below C8 cord level to a severe degree, gait disturbance to a moderate degree and visual disturbance to a slight degree. Since January 1990, she experienced stereotyped tonic seizures of all extremities and trunk without consciousness disturbance, preceded by tingling sensation ascending from bilateral distal legs, several times a day. During hospitalization, epilepsy, tetany and multiple sclerosis were ruled out and its seizures were completely depressed by oral administration of a small amount of carbamazepine. PTS which is said to be characteristic of multiple sclerosis is seldom found in SMON patients. This is a very important and interesting case to suggest a certain relation between the mechanism of PTS and the cord lesions of SMON.