What are the symptoms of epilepsy in children?

Written by Li Jiao Yan
Neonatology
Updated on September 12, 2024
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Seizures in children manifest in various forms, but they all share characteristics of sudden onset, sudden cessation, and periodic occurrence. Common types include grand mal seizures, absence seizures, and benign childhood epilepsy. During a grand mal seizure, the child suddenly loses consciousness, stops breathing, turns blue-purple, pupils dilate, limbs stiffen, hands clench into fists, followed by spasmodic convulsions, foaming at the mouth, with the episode generally lasting 1-5 minutes. Absence seizures in children present as sudden loss of consciousness, interruption of activity, staring or rolling of the eyes, but without falling down or convulsing, lasting 1-10 seconds, with consciousness quickly returning after the episode. Benign childhood epilepsy seizures often involve twitching of one side of the face, lips, or tongue, possibly accompanied by abnormal sensations in the area, inability to speak, drooling, generally with clear consciousness, with episodes occurring more frequently at night.

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Written by Tang Bo
Neurology
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How is epilepsy treated?

Epilepsy treatment can be divided into the following aspects: First is etiological treatment. If epilepsy is caused by tumors or cerebrovascular diseases, surgical removal of the lesion can relieve epilepsy, but seizures often still occur, so medication must not be stopped. Secondly, pharmacological treatment is necessary for epilepsy induced by unclear causes or genetic metabolic diseases. Treatment involves taking and adjusting medications under medical guidance, based on different types of seizures and individual patient circumstances. Additionally, for some cases where the cause cannot be clearly identified and no epileptic foci are found, functional surgery can be performed for treatment.

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Written by Yan Xin Liang
Pediatrics
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Can children's epilepsy be effectively treated?

Can childhood epilepsy be cured? Firstly, it depends on the type of epilepsy. If the symptoms are not very severe, the frequency of convulsions is low, and comprehensive exams such as brain MRI and genetic testing show no problems, and the child's intellectual development is normal, then this type of epilepsy might be curable. Generally, after 2 to 3 years of effective antiepileptic drug treatment and then gradually discontinuing the medication if there are no further seizures, the condition can usually be controlled. However, some types of epilepsy are associated with underlying diseases, such as cerebral palsy, inherent metabolic genetic disorders, poor brain development, or organic brain lesions. The treatment outcomes for these types of epilepsy are not good, and they are generally difficult to control.

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Written by Zhang Hui
Neurology
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What medicine should not be taken for epilepsy?

Patients with epilepsy mainly rely on some internal medicine drugs for treatment. There are many drugs available today, many of which can effectively control the occurrence of epilepsy and improve the quality of life of the patients. However, it is also important to note that some drugs should not be taken in reduced quantities, Firstly, there are some drugs that affect the liver. Many drugs can impact the liver, and since many antiepileptic drugs are metabolized through the liver, combining them can increase the burden on the liver and even induce necrotic hepatitis, Secondly, it is necessary to choose the medication according to the type of epileptic seizures. For example, if it is a visual seizure, or a myoclonic seizure, then one should not take Phenytoin sodium and Carbamazepine, as these two drugs can potentially exacerbate myoclonic and visual seizures, Thirdly, patients with epilepsy should also avoid taking drugs that affect the metabolism of epilepsy medication. If used together, it can cause a reduction in the efficacy of the epilepsy drugs, easily triggering an epileptic attack, or even a prolonged state of epilepsy.

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Written by Liu Shi Xiang
Neurology
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What are the prodromal symptoms of epilepsy?

The prodromal symptoms of epilepsy are diverse, generally involving movement, sensation, and mood. Some patients may experience transient numbness or weakness on one side of their body prior to a seizure, while others may have hallucinations and atypical mental or behavioral changes. However, these symptoms are not necessarily indicative of an impending seizure. When such symptoms occur, it is crucial to consider the possibility of an epilepsy attack, and patients should promptly visit the neurology department of a hospital for a thorough examination, including an electroencephalogram (EEG). If the EEG shows significant abnormalities such as spikes, sharp waves, slow waves, spike-and-wave complexes, or sharp-and-slow wave complexes, it suggests the potential for an epileptic seizure. In such cases, preventive medication should be administered promptly, such as carbamazepine or sodium valproate.

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Written by Liu Shi Xiang
Neurology
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What can severe epilepsy lead to?

Severe epilepsy can cause many complications, such as cerebral edema, brain herniation, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, etc. Therefore, severe epilepsy can seriously threaten the patient's life. If the patient's epilepsy is not controlled in time, it can easily lead to a state of status epilepticus. Status epilepticus is a very dangerous central nervous system disease. Patients may experience sudden respiratory and circulatory arrest and uncontrollable massive gastrointestinal bleeding. For severe epilepsy patients, it is necessary to promptly administer medications such as diazepam and sodium valproate to terminate the seizures. If status epilepticus occurs, the patient needs to be urgently sent to the ICU for observation and treatment, and effective interventions for various complications must be provided. For example, in the case of cerebral edema caused by epilepsy, medications such as mannitol and glycerol fructose are needed to dehydrate and reduce intracranial pressure. If epilepsy causes acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding, treatments to suppress acid, stop bleeding, and maintain blood pressure are required.