![]() ![]() You also may have brain imaging tests and scans that detect brain changes:Įlectroencephalogram (EEG). ![]() Genetic testing is most often performed in children but also may be helpful in some adults with epilepsy. In some people with epilepsy, genetic testing may give more information about the condition and how to treat it. A blood sample can detect signs of infections, genetic conditions or other conditions that may be associated with seizures. The exam helps diagnose epilepsy and determine the type of epilepsy you may have. This exam tests your behavior, movements, mental function and other areas. You may have several tests to diagnose epilepsy and to detect the cause of seizures. To diagnose epilepsy, your healthcare professional reviews your symptoms and medical history. The subtraction SPECT coregistered to MRI (right) helps pinpoint the area of seizure activity by overlapping the SPECT results with brain MRI results. These SPECT images show the blood flow in the brain of a person when there's no seizure activity (left) and during a seizure (middle). Come with your observation of the different seizure type or types that you've observed, know what the duration of the seizures are and have a seizure calendar so that you and your physician and your care team can review the frequency of your seizures. How can I be the best partner to my epilepsy team?įirst of all, be prepared with your questions when you come to your clinic visits. Epilepsy surgery is also an option for certain types of generalized epilepsy, where disconnection surgery can be performed. Epilepsy surgery can be an option for those patients who have a focal epilepsy, where a focus can be identified and safely removed. In those patients, evaluation for surgery can be an option. What is medically refractory epilepsy? Seizures that can't be controlled by medication.Ībout a third of the patients with epilepsy can continue to have seizures despite appropriate treatment. For those patients who have generalized tonic-clonic seizures where there are convulsive movements, there are FDA-cleared devices, wearable devices, that can detect these generalized tonic-clonic seizures based on movements. For those patients who have nocturnal seizures where it's not practical to monitor consistently when everyone is asleep, video EEG monitoring can also be quite helpful in determining the seizure frequency. This could be helpful for those subtle seizures that are less detectable by visual inspection. For those patients where it's not possible or practical to monitor all the time, it is helpful to ask and talk to your physician about EEG monitoring with video ongoing. For the absence seizures which are subtle staring, this depends on your observation of how often this is happening to your child. However, we do have to worry about prolonged seizures that are greater than five minutes or multiple seizures, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, more than three in an hour, in which case, your doctor may talk to you about a seizure action plan. Those short, brief seizures, although it may feel like a lifetime for parents, they do not cause negative impact on growth and development. Other patients may have generalized tonic-clonic seizures which last two to three minutes. Depending on the patient, there are absence seizures that are five to six seconds. It includes information about what type of seizure, what your child's seizure looks like, and if there is any anti-seizure medication that should be used while the seizure is happening to shorten the seizures or how to contact the family should prolonged seizures happen. ![]() Then there are, in some children, genetic causes, neurometabolic causes or auto-immune causes that can be looked at.Ī seizure action plan is a roadmap for nurses and teachers at school to help your child should a seizure happen at school. MRI of the brain to look for structural abnormality, EEG to look at characteristics of the brainwave activity so the physician can categorize which type or types of seizure the patient has. There are underlying causes that need to be evaluated. It's a symptom that describes brainwave abnormalities. Lily Wong-Kisiel, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist, Mayo Clinic:Įpilepsy is a syndrome diagnosis. ![]()
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