Hemiparetic seizures.

In three patients hemiparesis was a manifestation of focal seizures. In all, there were electroencephalographic abnormalities and radionucleotide uptake in the contralateral hemisphere. Treatment of the seizures resulted in clearing of both paralysis and abnormal brain scan. These patients fit the diagnostic category described by Higier as a "paralytic equivalent of epilepsy without disturbance of consciousness in the form of status hemiparalyticus," and described by others as inhibitory seizures or partial seizures with subsequent hemigeneralization. The etiology of the paralysis and its relation to Todd paralysis are not clear, but it may result from excessive inhibitory discharge.