Author Archives: eCreative Studios

Adults

August 8, 2011

Guide to Diagnostic Tests for Epilepsy

Medical tests can be an extremely stressful procedure for an individual.

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with as much information as possible, to help you to understand the tests and become familiar with the procedures, and to reduce any fears or anxieties you may be experiencing.

There are several tests that can be used to diagnose epilepsy. It is important for you to understand that one test is not better than the other, and it will be your doctor who will decide which test is better for you.

You will need a referral from your doctor in order to take the following tests:

These fact sheets will provide definitions, procedures, and other relevant information which you should know before proceeding with the tests.

If you have any other questions, contact your local epilepsy association, family physician or hospital for more information

Visual Reflex Seizures Induced by Complex Stimuli

August 8, 2011

Benjamin G. Zifkin and Yushi Inoue
From Epilepsia, Volume 45 Issue s1 Page 27-29 January 2004. doi:10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.451005.x
URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.451005.x

Summary:

Visual reflex seizures induced by complex stimuli may be triggered by patterned and flashing displays that are now ubiquitous. The seizures may be clinically generalized, but unilateral and bilateral myoclonic attacks also may be triggered, especially in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, and recently, clearly focal reflex occipital lobe seizures have been described. Some seizure-triggering properties of video displays can be identified, such as perceived brightness, pattern, flicker frequency, and color. Knowledge of these is useful in planning individual treatment and in designing regulations for screen content of television broadcasts or for other video displays. Some subjects will also be sensitive to cognitive or action-programming activation, especially when playing video games, and this can increase the chance of seizure triggering. Nonspecific factors such as sleep deprivation, prolonged exposure, and drug or alcohol use also may play a role in reflex seizure occurrence.

All of human society is increasingly likely to come into contact with visual stimuli that can trigger epileptic seizures in susceptible individuals. Computers, television screens, videogames, and other video displays are inescapable in education, work, and entertainment. Other patterned and flashing light displays are part of everyday life as direction or warning signs, advertising, entertainment, and other forms of information: these technologies also have spread to developing countries. The sources of visual stimulation have been described elsewhere in this volume.

From the EEG era, photosensitivity was identified by the response to stroboscopic white flicker (intermittent photic stimulation: IPS) in the EEG laboratory. Flicker sensitivity is usual in patients with different types of seizures induced by visual stimuli, but subtypes in which patients are reproducibly sensitive to more complex stimuli can be distinguished. These stimuli usually add elements of pattern, color, flicker, or movement, often to the inherent flicker stimulation of displays such as domestic television (TV) screens. Other intrinsic factors not related to typical visual stimuli but adding to the seizure-generating properties of stimuli such as videogames include cognitive activity, thinking with action programming, and reading. Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenit

Visit the link at the top of the page for the rest of this article.

Click here to learn about other types of seizures.

Tonic Seizures

August 8, 2011

Tonic seizures are very uncommon, especially when they occur without clonic jerking. They usually are manifest with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or, less commonly, with multiple sclerosis. Tonic seizures most often develop in childhood, although they can occur at any age.

Tonic seizures are characterized by facial and truncal muscle spasms, flexion or extension of the upper and lower extremities, and impaired consciousness. Several types of tonic seizures exist. Those grouped with absence, myoclonic, and atonic seizures are non-convulsive and tend to be brief. The more prolonged seizures usually are convulsive and may manifest pupillary dilation, tachycardia, apnea, cyanosis, salivation, and the loss of bladder or bowel control. Tonic seizures are often followed by postictal confusion.

Click here to learn about other types of seizures.

Status Epilepticus

August 8, 2011
Status Epilepticus is considered a medical emergency.
Immediate medical care is required.

Most seizures run their course and end naturally on their own within seconds or a few minutes. Status epilepticus is a seizure that lasts for 30 minutes or longer, or when seizures repeat without recovery in between. This prolonged or repeated seizure activity can be life-threatening and requires emergency medical care.

Call 911 if a convulsive seizure has not come to an end by 5 minutes, or if a second seizure begins before the person has fully recovered from the previous seizure. 

In addition to convulsive status epilepticus, which is an emergency, status epilepticus can be non-convulsive (absence or complex partial seizures) too. A person in non-convulsive status epilepticus may appear confused or dazed and should be seen by a health care professional or taken to an urgent care centre. 

Status epilepticus may occur as the first manifestation of a seizure disorder, or it may occur in a person known to have seizures.

The highest incidence of  status epilepticus and mortality in status epilepticus occurs during the first year of life and after age 60. (Mortality in status epilepticus is recognized as death within 30 days of the event.)

In seniors, the majority of status epilepticus cases are related to:

  • Cerebrovascular accidents
  • Metabolic problems
  • Decreased anticonvulsant medications

Prolonged convulsive seizure activity can cause brain injury, or damage to other organs, and should be stopped as soon as possible. Status epilepticus is usually treated in a hospital, using the following possible intravenous treatments:

If the person is prone to status epilepticus, the doctor may teach his/her caregiver to administer a special fast acting form of these rescue medications at home.

Click here to learn about other types of seizures.