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In childhood, central nervous system (CNS) presentations associated with antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) complex include limbic encephalitis, status epilepticus, epileptic encephalopathy, and autistic regression. We report the cases of two individuals (a 6-year-old male and an 11-year-old female) who presented with an acute-onset explosive seizure disorder with positive VGKC complex antibodies and bilateral basal ganglia changes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both patients made a complete clinical recovery, without immunotherapy, with resolution of the MRI changes and normalization of the antibody levels. Extended antibody testing, including testing for leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1), contactin-associated protein 2, and contactin-2 was negative. This could suggest that the clinico-radiological phenotype in our patients may in fact be associated with a novel autoreactive target(s) within the VGKC complex, as may be the case in other children with VGKC complex-mediated CNS disorders.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04366.x

Type

Journal article

Journal

Dev Med Child Neurol

Publication Date

12/2012

Volume

54

Pages

1157 - 1159

Keywords

Asperger Syndrome, Basal Ganglia, Child, Contactin 1, Contactin 2, Diagnosis, Differential, Epilepsy, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Phenotype, Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated, Proteins, Radiography, Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay