Paroxysmal, rhythmic lingual movements and chronic epilepsy.

Paroxysmal and rhythmic lingual movements were observed in three children during a study designed to investigate epileptiform movements of oropharyngeal muscles in patients with chronic epilepsy. The movements were confined to the tongue, occurred mainly during sleep, and were observed again in two children 7 and 18 months later. These movements corresponded to episodic desynchronization of the electroencephalogram and were attributed to an unusual form of subcortical seizures.