Table 1

Comparison of the two variants of reading epilepsies, according to the literature and the case reported: jaw jerk variant and the posterior variant, characterised by visual symptoms and a- or dyslexia

	Reading epilepsy jaw jerk variant	Reading epilepsy posterior variant (visual symptoms, a- or dyslexia)
Triggers other than reading	Writing, talking, thinking,1 chess playing11	Playing cards13
Unprovoked seizures	Yes1 11	Yes1: 5%12; no13 16
Ictal symptomatology	Jaw jerks	Elementary visual hallucination, visual illusion, blurred vision, palinopsia, alexia, dyslexia1 11 12 13 19
Age (years) at onset	12–461 11 14	8–281 12
Family history	Yes in 25%1	No,1 16 undefined12 13 19
Length of seizures	Brief: few seconds1 11	More prolonged: 50 s to 2 min1 12 19
Interictal EEG	Usually normal,8 17 paroxysmal discharges maximal in the occipital and parietal areas2	L posterior interictal spikes,12 bilateral parietal and frontal abnormalities13
Ictal EEG	‘generalised’ spikes-and-waves,11 14 L temporo-parietal sharp-waves,6 8 14 L fronto-central spikes,4 R fronto-temporal spikes14 17	L occipito-temporal rhythmic discharge12
Ventriculography	–	L occipital atrophy12
IRM	Normal, encephalomalacia in the L frontal lobe4 in symptomatic forms	Normal, arachnoid cyst at the L temporal pole1
¹⁸F-FDG-PET	–	L occipito-temporal hypometabolism
¹¹C-DPN-PET	Decrease bilateral temporal and L frontal,35 decrease L temporo-parieto-occipital junction18	–
Ictal SPECT	Hyperperfusion bilateral frontal and L temporal33	L occipito-parietal junction area, L lateral middle and inferior temporal gyri, L inferior frontal area
Spike triggered fMRI	L frontal cortex,36 L motor and premotor areas37	–
HR-EEG	–	L occipito-temporal junction
Therapeutic response	CZP; CLB; VPA,1 14 36 PHT24	CBZ1; PB12; PHT, PB13; VPA16
Physiopathology/classification	Partial epilepsy, generalised epilepsy11	Partial epilepsy

CBZ, carbamazepine; CLB, clobazam; CZP, clonazepam; L, left; PB, phenobarbitone; PHT, phenytoin; VPA, sodium valproate.