Seizure Control in Kids

Seizure Control in Kids


While living with the likelihood you will have a seizure is challenging for anyone, it is particularly difficult for children and teenagers. And yet many kids cope with this reality. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, approximately 45,000 children under 14 are diagnosed annually with epilepsy, a neurological disorder that causes seizures.

Educating parents and kids, as well as teachers and fellow students, about epilepsy can help ensure children's safety and comfort level. Below, Trevor Resnick, MD, discusses different kinds of seizures children may experience, including seizures triggered by fever that are not considered part of epilepsy. Dr. Resnick also addresses when treatment is necessary and what it involves.



What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy really is a term that is used for adults or children who have recurrent seizures. An individual seizure is the result of an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain.



When in life does epilepsy usually occur?
The incidence of epilepsy is very high in infancy, drops down in the first decade to be relatively low through into the 40s and 50s, and then grows again in late adulthood and old age.



What are some of the things that can cause epilepsy in children?
There are very many different causes of epilepsy. Some people have a genetic predisposition for seizures. We don't know the cause of genetic seizures, but we've begun to identify specific genes that are responsible for causing seizures. And then there's the second group of seizures, where there's an identifiable cause, such as a stroke, or a scar or tumor in the brain, or something the child has been born with. In these children, there is a specific area in the brain where the cells are either not aligned normally or are malformed. That can cause abnormal electrical discharges in that area that can set up seizures.



What kinds of seizures can children have?
There are seizures that are partial. "Partial" implies that they begin in a specific area of the brain, and that those seizures are unassociated with a change in consciousness. So for example, a child may be jerking the left arm and be able to say, "What's wrong with me? My left arm is jerking."

The most common form of partial seizures is called benign rolandic epilepsy. And those seizures usually occur at night and are characterized by gagging or drooling. The seizures are usually very well controlled by medication, and sometimes you don't even need to treat them. And almost always, as the child grows older and into adolescence, the seizures go away.

Partial complex seizures are seizures that start in a particular area of the brain, but then spread in a fashion that renders a change in consciousness where they're not entirely with it. And then with generalized seizures, the abnormal electrical discharge spreads to involve the entire brain. Depending upon the spread of the epileptic discharge, the child may have a seizure that's characterized by a just blank stare or by generalized body stiffening or both.

In a form of seizures called petit mal, or absence seizures, children may be involved in an activity and suddenly will stop and stare blankly ahead for a few seconds, and then continue with their regular activities.