JLE

Epileptic Disorders

MENU

Brain connectivity changes during ictal coughing Volume 21, numéro 4, August 2019

Illustrations


  • Figure 1

  • Figure 2
Auteurs
1 Université Clermont-Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand,
2 Aix Marseille Univ, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille,
3 AP-HM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service d’Epileptologie, Marseille, France
* Correspondence: Fabrice Bartolomei Service d’épileptologie et rythmologie cérébrale, CHU Timone, 264 Rue St Pierre 13005, Marseille, France

Coughing is a reflex phenomenon that is protective for the upper airways, involving both a reflex arc in the brainstem and cortical control. Ictal coughing has been prominently reported in temporal lobe seizures, but precise anatomo-electrical correlations are lacking. We report a patient who presented with persistent coughing at seizure onset. We studied intracerebrally recorded seizures (using stereo-electroencephalography) in order to describe the anatomo-functional correlations associated with this sign. Coughing followed seizure onset in the medial temporal lobe. A functional connectivity study (h2 estimation of interdependencies) showed that during coughing, a network of cortical and subcortical regions was involved, particularly the perisylvian cortices and the caudate nucleus.