[Interruption of grand mal epileptic seizures by the trigeminal nerve stimulation].

The author demonstrated that a strong pressure exerted on the site of intraorbital branches of the trigeminal nerve can interrupt grand mal attack if exerted at the beginning of the seizure. In a group of 50 observed epileptics with frequent attacks it was possible in 29 cases to perform this procedure before the onset of convulsions and in all these cases the attack was prevented. On the other hand, the same procedure performed at the time of convulsions was without effect on the attack. The author discusses the neurophysiological bases of this observation.