Refractory tonic-myoclonic status epilepticus with catamenial recurrence in epilepsy with myoclonic atonic seizures: A case report

In epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures (EMA), status epilepticus (SE) may occur during the onset phase, uncommonly in post-puberal patients. We report a post-puberal patient with EMA who presented SE with insidious onset and catamenial recurrence. She had a stormy epilepsy onset at 4 years, with tonic seizures, atypical absences, and myoclonic-atonic seizures, in the absence of SE. After the onset phase, sporadic nocturnal tonic seizures persisted and a mild intellectual disability appeared. At the age of 7, after gonadotropinreleasing hormone analog administration due to central precocious puberty, she presented with SE characterized by recurrent atypical absences, tonic seizures, and awareness impairment, which was successfully treated in 4 days. At 11 years, one week before menstruation, the patient presented with analogous SE that lasted 8 days. One week before the subsequent menstruation, she presented again with SE, initially characterized by atypical absences alternating with phases of awareness and motor impairment related to fast low-voltage EEG activity in the central regions; later, tonic and myoclonic seizures occurring even in the awake state increased, and the "atonic-akinetic status" related to fast EEG activity worsened. After conventional antiepileptic drugs had failed to control the seizures, a progestin was added, with subsequent gradual complete recovery.