Epilepsy is an umbrella term for neurological disorders with chronic and recurrent unprovoked seizures. During an epileptic seizure, electrical activity in the brain is abnormal, for example synchronous or excessive signals. This corresponds to focal (localised to one lobe) or generalised (abnormal activity in both hemispheres) symptoms and signs.

Epidemiology:

• Epilepsy affects around one in 100 people in the UK.
• One every 220 children have Epilepsy.

PC

• Focal seizures could include specific symptoms such as visual phenomena (occipital lobe focal seizure) or strange smells (temporal lobe seizure).
• Generalized seizures can include tonic (muscles stiffen), tonic-clonic (muscles stiffen followed by rhythmic jerking), myoclonic (brief jerking movements), atonic (children fall to the floor) or absence (unresponsive episodes where child appears to be daydreaming) seizures.

Investigations

• Epilepsy is diagnosed with EEG.
• Imaging with MRI and CT is generally not required except to exclude structural abnormalities of the brain.

Paediatric epileptic syndromes