Seizures In Children

Seizures in children, as with adults, are the results of abnormal electrical activities in the brain. The brain contains billions of nerve cells that communicate with each other and the different units of the body via electrical impulses. In circumstances when there is excess or abnormal electrical activity, seizures ensue. This leads to changes in behavior, movement and awareness.

There is a wide spectrum of syndromes that are exhibited by children, but not all of them may be categorized as epilepsy or seizure types. Three of the most common seizures experienced by children are febrile seizure, absence epilepsy and Rolandic seizure.

Febrile Seizure
Approximately 3% of all children experience seizure before they reach the age of 15. Half of all these cases are diagnosed as febrile seizure.

Febrile seizure results from conditions such as cold, ear infection and chickenpox which are accompanied by fever. How fever of these types is accompanied by seizure is not known. However, some theories suggest that it is the result of a sudden rise in body temperature and not the effect of a prolonged fever.

Febrile seizures are common among children aged 6 months and above and are rare among children aged 5 years old and beyond. Boys are twice more susceptible to febrile seizure than girls.

There are three categories of febrile seizures – typical or simple, atypical or complex, and symptomatic febrile seizure. Typical febrile seizure lasts less than 15 minutes, has an episode that does not recur in a 24-hour period, and involves the entire body to convulse in a way similar to tonic-clonic or grand mal seizure. The underlying problem is never caused by encephalitis, mengingitis and other illnesses affecting the brain.

Atypical febrile seizure, on the other hand, is a prolonged seizure which lasts for more than 15 minutes, recurs within a 24-hour period, and is often localized. Multiple episodes often happen in close succession.

Symptomatic febrile seizure is somewhat comparable with simple febrile seizure. It affects the same age range as typical febrile seizure and is characterized by fevers common in the condition. The only difference is that the patient has an existing acute illness or abnormality of the brain.

Simple febrile seizure is diagnosed more frequently and is often considered a transient condition that will subside once the underlying problem is resolved.

Symptoms of febrile seizure often include stiffening and eventual twitching of the entire body or one part of the body. During the episode, the child may lose consciousness, foam around the mouth, vomit, or wet or soil himself. Depending on the type, the entire episode may last for 15 minutes or more, typically occurring uninterrupted for at least 5 minutes.

Childhood Absence Epilepsy
Dubbed as the 'staring epilepsy', absence epilepsy is a condition wherein the child suddenly loses consciousness for a brief period. The sudden 'spacing out' happens for a few seconds and may be accompanies by purposeless wandering from one place to another but without the motor dysfunctions commonly associated with seizure.

Other types of seizures in children include epilepsy syndromes like Rolandic Epilepsy, Lennox-Gestaut Syndrome, West Syndrome and Ohtahara Syndrome or Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy with Burst-Suppression (EIEE).