Pediatric Seizures
What is a pediatric seizure?
The brain is the center that controls and regulates all voluntary and involuntary responses in the body. It consists of nerve cells that normally communicate with each other through electrical activity.
A seizure occurs when part(s) of the brain receives a burst of abnormal electrical signals that temporarily interrupts the normal electrical brain function. This activity usually affects how a person feels or acts for a short time. Some seizures can hardly be noticed while others can be disabling.
What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a neurological condition, which affects the nervous system. Epilepsy is also known as a seizure disorder. It is usually diagnosed after someone has had at least two seizures that were not caused by some known medical condition.
What causes pediatric seizures?
For most children, the cause of seizures is unknown. The tendency to have seizures sometimes runs in families. The most common type pediatric seizure is a febrile seizure. This is a seizure brought on by a high fever, usually caused by an infection.
Other causes include:
Is a seizure the same thing as epilepsy?
Child epilepsy is a pattern of seizures over a long period of time. If a child has one seizure, that doesn't necessarily mean he or she has epilepsy.
Are there different types of seizures?
There are many types of seizures. The broad categories are:
- Partial seizures - partial seizures take place when abnormal electrical brain function occurs in one of more areas of one side of the brain.
- Simple partial seizures typically last less than one minute. Seizure activity is limited to an isolated muscle group such as fingers or to larger muscles in the arms and legs. Consciousness is not lost in this type of seizure.
- Complex partial seizures - this type of seizure generally occurs in the temporal lobe of the brain. Consciousness is usually lost during these seizures. When the child regains consciousness, they may complain of being tired or sleepy. This is called the postictal period.
- Generalized seizures - generalized seizures involve both sides of the brain. There is a loss of consciousness and a postictal period after the seizure occurs.
- Febrile seizure - this type of seizure is associated with fever and most commonly seen in children between 6 months and 5 years of age. There may be a family history of this type of seizure.
- Absence seizures (also called petit mal seizures) - These seizures are characterized by staring episodes or a brief altered state of consciousness. Typically the child's posture does not change during the seizure. The seizure usually lasts no longer than 30 seconds and when over, the child may not recall what just happened. These seizures may occur several times a day. This type of seizure is sometimes mistaken for a learning or behavior problem. These almost always begin between the ages of 4 and 12 years old.
- Atonic or drop attacks - There is a sudden loss of muscle tone and the child may fall from a standing position or suddenly drop his/her head. During the seizure, the child is limp and unresponsive.
- General tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal seizures) - This seizure typically has five distinct phases that occur. The body, arms and legs will flex (contract), extend or straighten out, tremor (shake), a clonic period (contraction and relaxation of the muscles), followed by the postictal period.
- Myoclonic seizures - This type of seizure refers to quick movements or the sudden jerking of a group of muscles. These seizures tend to occur in clusters, either several times a day or for several days in a row.
- Infantile spasms - This is an uncommon type of seizure disorder which occurs in infants from 3 to 12 months of age. These spasms consist of a sudden jerk followed by stiffening. Often the arms are flung out as the knees are pulled up and the body bends forward.
- Status epilepticus - Prolonged or clustered seizures can worsen and develop into non-stop seizures. This is called status epilepticus. This is a medical emergency. The child needs to be taken to the hospital to receive the proper treatment to control the seizures.
Medical and Surgical Treatments
Once the diagnostic process is complete, our team of epilepsy specialists carefully analyzes each child’s results during a weekly conference. This ensures that each child receives a comprehensive medical opinion drawn from more than 30 years of experience and expertise.
A specific treatment plan for a seizure will be determined by your child’s physician based on:
- Your child’s age, overall health and medical history
- The extent and severity of the condition
- The type of seizure and cause
- Your child’s tolerance for a specific medication or procedure
The goal of seizure management is to control, stop or decrease the frequency of the seizures while promoting the child’s normal growth and development.
Treatment options may include:
Medications: There are many types of medications which can be used to treat seizures and epilepsy. These are selected according to the type of seizure, age of the patient, and possible side effects.
Medications given at home are usually taken by mouth as capsules, tablets, sprinkles or syrup. If the child is in the hospital with seizures, some medication can be given by injection or intravenously (IV) or by rectum (PR).
It is very important to give your child his/her medication on schedule as directed by your child’s physician. Different people react to the medication in their body differently, so adjustments to the schedule and dosage may be needed for good control of seizures.
All medications can have side effects, although some children may not experience any. You will help monitor your child for these, with your physician’s guidance.While your child is taking medication, tests may be done to monitor the medication including levels blood counts, liver or kidney function, urine="urine tests and EEG.
Study (new) medications: patients who have not responded to typically prescribed medications and are not candidates for epilepsy surgery may be given the opportunity to be treated with new study medication. Le Bonheur physicians are committed to the continuous search for better treatments for epilepsy through clinical research. We have had experience in the development of every new drug introduced into the US in the last 30 years. We continue to work with the FDA and drug companies to develop new treatments.
Ketogenic diet: This is a special diet which may be an option for certain children who do not tolerate medications or whose seizures are not being well controlled with medication alone. A ketogenic diet is sometimes a recommended treatment for children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, intractable epilepsy or temporal lobe epilepsy. The Ketogenic diet is a very strict diet high in fats and low in carbohydrates and protein. No one knows exactly how the diet works, but some children do become seizure-free when put on this diet. However, this diet does not work for everyone.
Surgery: another treatment option for certain types of seizures is surgery. Surgery may be considered in a child who:
Why Le Bonheur Children's?
The epilepsy team at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center includes some of the most respected pediatric epilepsy specialists in the United States. The hospital's Comprehensive Epilepsy Program is a key component of the hospital's Neuroscience Institute, a center of excellence dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of neurological disorders in children and adolescents. Children from across the country visit Le Bonheur each year to be treated at the Institute.
Posted: Tue Aug 19 00:00:00 CDT 2008
For more information please contact:
Neuroscience Institute
, 866.705.8279
