[Idiopathic catastrophic epileptic encephalopathy: an untreatable convulsive malady in infancy].

Aim: To present a case of catastrophic childhood epileptic syndrome with multifocal status epilepticus.
Case Report: A 4 years old boy with a multifocal status epilepticus of unknown origin which could only be controlled along some days with thiopentone enough to cause electrical suppression, and relapsed again after having stopped it.
Conclusion: But for very high doses of barbiturates, any antiepileptic drug could control or improve the convulsions. MRI, initially normal, was followed by a progressive cerebral and cerebellar atrophy and the boy survived with heavy neurological secuelae.