Epilepsia partialis continua due to COVID-19 pneumonia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epilepsia partia-lis continua (EPC) is an uncommon condition with several different etiological causes. In this article, we presented a case of EPC due to COVID-19 in-fection. CASE REPORT: A 77-year-old woman with di-abetes, asthma, hypertension, and chronic renal failure went to the emergency room with short-ness of breath. The patient was awake and had slight hemiparesis sequela on the left due to a cerebrovascular incident 20 years earlier on neu-rological assessment. Non-contrast thorax com-puted CT revealed patchy ground-glass alveo-lo-acinar density increases in bilateral lung sub-zones, confirming COVID-19 pneumonia. After getting a positive COVID-19 PCR test, the patient was admitted to the department of infectious dis-eases. After a week in the hospital, seizures in-volving the right arm, leg, and part of the face ap-peared. The patient could not respond to ques-tions. The patient's seizures lasted 12-24 hours. EEG was compatible with Epilepsia partialis conti-nua. The cerebrospinal fluid examination was nor-mal. Both clinical and EEG findings of the patient improved with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Several causes may contrib-ute to the onset of Epilepsia partialis continua. COVID-19 infection might be one of the etiological explanations for the diagnosis of Epilepsia partialis continua and the prognosis may be very good too.