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Neuropediatrics 2020; 51(05): 336-340
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1709455
Original Article

Reflex Epilepsy with Hot Water: Clinical and EEG Findings, Treatment, and Prognosis in Childhood

Fatma Hanci
1   Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey
,
Sevim Türay
2   Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey
,
Paşa Balci
3   Department of Pediatrics, Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey
,
Nimet Kabakuş
1   Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Abant İzzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey
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Abstract

Hot water epilepsy (HWE) is a subtype of reflex epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by the head being immersed in hot water. Hot water or bathing epilepsy is the type of reflex epilepsy most frequently encountered in our clinic. We describe our patients with HWE and also discuss the clinical features, therapeutic approaches, and prognosis. Eleven patients (10 boys, 1 girl), aged 12 months to 13 years, admitted to the pediatric neurology clinic between January 2018 and August 2019, and diagnosed with HWE or bathing epilepsy based on International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE)-2017, were followed up prospectively for ∼18 months. Patients' clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) findings and treatment details were noted. All 11 patients' seizures were triggered by hot water. Age at first seizure was between 2 months and 12 years. Seizure types were generalized motor seizures, absence, and atonic. EEG was normal in two patients, but nine patients had epileptiform discharges. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed and reported as normal (except in one case). Histories of prematurity were present in two patients, unprovoked seizures in one, and low birth weight and depressed birth in the other. Patients with HWE have normal neuromuscular development and neurological examination results, together with prophylaxis or seizure control with a single antiepileptic drug, suggesting that it is a self-limited reflex epilepsy.

Keywords

bathing - hot water epilepsy - treatment - prognosis


Publication History

Received: 11 October 2019

Accepted: 26 February 2020

Article published online:
15 April 2020

© 2020. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Stuttgart · New York

 

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