Immune-dependent forms of epilepsy are diagnosed in about 5-35% of patients with this diagnosis. They are caused by dysfunction of the immune system and appear in the form of seizures that can last from a few days to 2-3 weeks.
Patients who suffer from other immunological pathologies, such as autoimmune thyroiditis, lupus erythematosus, polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, etc. are more likely to develop autoimmune epilepsy (AE). The risk also increases if there are similar pathologies in close relatives.
In AEs, antibodies are synthesized in the body that attack the brain, which can provoke seizures.
Symptoms
The main manifestation of immune-mediated epilepsy is frequent prolonged seizures. Seizures may also be accompanied by hyperthermia. Other characteristic manifestations of this form of the disease:
cramps spread to one part of the face and the arm on the same side;
memory impairment;
it is not always possible to control seizures with anticonvulsants;
personality disorder;
behavioral disorders — apathy, the tendency to depression, paranoid thoughts, hallucinations.
