Citation

Wortzel HS, Strom LA, Anderson AC, Maa EH, Spitz M. J. Forensic Sci. 2012; 57(2): 550-552.

Affiliation

VISN 19 MIRECC, Denver Veterans Hospital, 1055 Clermont St., Denver, CO 80220. Neurobehavioral Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, Anschultz Medical Campus, Building 500, 13001 E. 17th Pl., Aurora, CO 80045. Department of Neurology, Anschultz Medical Campus, Research Complex 2, 12700 E. 19th Ave., Aurora, CO 80045. Division of Neurology, Denver Veterans Hospital, 1055 Clermont St., Denver, CO 80220.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01995.x

PMID

22150773

Abstract

Little is known about the clinical aspects and medico-legal consequences of disrobing in the context of epileptic seizures. Seizure-related disrobing may occur either as an ictal automatism or during the postictal period. Some patients may experience a seizure while already in the unclothed state, engage in ictal wandering, and thereby appear in public in the nude. Two cases involving disrobing associated with seizures captured via video-monitored electroencephalography are offered. An additional case reveals the legal consequences endured by one patient who experienced a nocturnal seizure and began wandering in an unclothed state. Collectively, these cases illustrate the medical reality of seizure-related disrobing and the related adverse effects on patients' quality of life. Disrobing associated with epileptic seizures carries the potential for serious legal consequences if not properly identified as an ictal phenomenon.

Language: en