Jervell and Lange-Nielson Syndrome masquerading as intractable epilepsy

Abstract

The long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a cause of syncope and sudden death. Jervell and Lange-Nielson syndrome (JLNS) is an uncommon form of LQTS, having autosomal recessive transmission, and is associated with congenital deafness. We report a case of JLNS in a child who presented to us with refractory epilepsy. The cardiac cause of seizures was suspected as the child was hypotensive and pulseless during the episode of seizures. The child was diagnosed as JLNS based on Schwartz diagnostic criteria for LQTS and congenital sensorineural deafness. The child responded well to β-blocker therapy. Antiepileptic drugs were stopped. The screening of family members with ECG revealed a QT interval more than required for diagnosis of LQTS but they were asymptomatic. All asymptomatic family members were also put on metoprolol. All of them showed great improvement with the reduction of the QT interval on ECG. The patient was doing well on immediate follow-up.

Keywords

• Long QT syndrome
• Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome
• seizures