Idiopathic Hemiconvulsion-Hemiplegia Syndrome

A rare acute encephalopathy with inflammation-mediated status epilepticus characterized by infancy-onset of refractory unilateral, mainly clonic status epilepticus during or shortly after a febrile episode without evidence of central nervous system infection, followed by permanent or transient hemiplegia with a minimum duration of one week. The majority of children develop pharmaco-resistant epilepsy a few months later. Brain imaging shows edematous swelling of the affected hemisphere at the time of the initial status, followed by hemiatrophy that does not correlate with any vascular territory.