Respiratory failure as a seizure phenomenon. A case report.

Recurrent acute respiratory failure in an epileptic subject is described. The first episode of respiratory failure occurred while the patient was having frequent epileptic fits and was probably secondary to cerebral oedema with temporal herniation. The second occurred suddenly after 27 days during which the patient had been free from seizures. It is suggested that this episode of acute respiratory failure was the result of an epileptic seizure without any motor symptoms.