Purpose: Ictal kissing has been described in the literature. Five cases were reported and associated with temporal lobe epilepsy lateralizing to the nondominant hemisphere.
Methods: A case of ictal kissing was identified. The aim was to demonstrate the clinical, clinical and electrophysiological features (as recorded by subdural electrodes). The surgical procedure, histopathology, and imaging data were reviewed and correlated with the literature.
Results: A 29-year-old right-handed female, who presented with ictal right hand left arm dystonic posturing, and lip smacking, was studied. The automatism was usually followed by prolonged emotional gestures and by hugging and kissing her relative and/or attendant nurse. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed right small cortical and subcortical lesions of the right inferior frontal lobe with gliosis but without mass effect and normal-sized hippocampi. The PET scan showed hypometabolism of the right temporal lobe. Neuropsychological evaluation showed deficit in her nonverbal memory. The subdural electrodes showed high amplitude spikes over right mesial temporal lobe strips. The offsite of the ictal discharges was usually at the right frontal strips. Right standard temporal lobectomy with amygdalohippocampectomy and right inferior frontal lesionectomy were performed. The patient continued to be seizure-free for one year postoperatively.
Conclusion: Our case report supports with subdural EEG recording the findings of the few reported cases of ictal kissing behavior lateralized to the nondominant hemisphere. However, the affectionate kissing behavior was associated with spread of the epileptic discharges to the right frontal lobe.
Keywords: Ictal kissing; Nondominant temporal lobe; Subdural EEG.