Cerebral oedema in episodic ataxia.

We report a patient with episodic ataxia (presumably of type 2) who developed cerebral oedema secondary to a common infection (presumably viral). Cerebral oedema may be a part of the clinical spectrum of familial episodic ataxia and argues for an overlap with hemiplegic migraine. It is suggested to consider a diagnosis of episodic ataxia or familial hemiplegic migraine in catastrophic reactions to apparent trivial trauma or infection.