6) Epilepsy Flashcards
What is epilepsy?
Chronic, CNS, neurological disorder causing recurrent seizures with no known causes.
What is the key difference between epilepsy and seizures?
A person must have two or more unprovoked seizures of unknown etiology to be epilepsy.
What are three diagnostic tests for epilepsy?
Brain imaging
Blood tests
Lumbar puncture
What would blood tests determine in regards to epilepsy?
It can check for infection, anemia or poisons that may have caused the seizure (secondary cause)
What are the four different types of brain scans that can be done for epilepsy diagnosing?
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
Computerized tomography (CT)
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Positron emission tomography (PET)
This type of testing is noninvasive in locating the irregular cortical firing, which can help determine the severity and type of seizure
EEG
A balanced neuron has inhibitory signals (Cl-, GABA, and K+, leaving) affecting it in balance with excitatory signals (Na, Ca and glutamate). What occurs when these are no longer balanced with excitatory dominating?
Hyper excitability causing synchronization in the burst of action potentials from the cortical neuron clusters.
What causes an imbalanced neuron?
Defective voltage-gated ion channel allowing:
- Na and Ca excessive influx
- K insufficient effluent
-Cl insufficient influx
Excessive excitatory (glutamate and aspartate) and insufficient inhibitory (GABA)
The crying babies analogy refers to what in regards to propagation?
Excitability of the one recruits surrounding cortical neurons, causing them to lose surrounding inhibition.
What is the mechanism in how a seizure is terminated
No known mechanism
Spontaneous
What is an aura in relation to seizures?
Physiological warning signs of an approaching seizure
Ex) scents, anxiousness, déjà vu, fear
At the beginning of this type of seizure you will experience aura, followed by motor, sensory, autonomic or psychic symptoms with no loss in consciousness and a full memory of the occurrence.
Simple Partial Seizure.
Describe the symptoms during a simple partial seizure.
Motor: jerky movements, stiffness
Sensory: tingling, numbness
Autonomic: abdominal discomfort
Psychic: hallucination, fear, sadness
This type of seizure can start with an aura, but is followed by impaired consciousness involving automatisms like picking at clothes and mumbling.
It can progress to a general seizure and is followed by no memory of the event and tiredness
Complex partial
A partial seizure which progresses into a generalized seizure with tonic-clonic convulsions is called what?
Secondarily generalized
This type of seizure occurs more commonly in children with no aura and the child experiences a brief lapse of consciousness with prompt recovery.
This can occur several times throughout the day
Absence (Petit mal)
This type of seizure has no warning signs and is characterized by loss of muscle tone and consciousness, with a regain in consciousness a few seconds later
Atonic
This type of seizure has no warns and is characterized by muscle jerks and spasms with the consciousness and memory intact.
Myoclonic
During this seizure, the body stiffens (tonic) and jerks (clonic) with epileptic crying and tongue biting
There is no recollection afterwards, just confusion and fatigue.
Tonic-Clonic (Grand mal)
What is the name for a seizure that lasts a long time and may repeat without reccovering
Status epilepticus
What can secondary seizures be triggered by?
Head trauma Stress Lack of sleep Drug use Alcohol withdrawal Disease/ infection
Heavy consumption of alcohol does what to the seizure threshold?
It decreases it.
Chronic consumers can also experience seizures upon withdrawal
Define a seizure.
Sudden excessive, electrical excitation in the cortical neurons creates a loss of awareness, consciousness, movement/sensation disturbances
What is a febrile seizure and what causes it?
It is common in children, convulsions brought on by fever.
