APPROACH TO THE CHILD WITH A SEIZURE

1. Background ................................................................................................................................ 1
2. Questions to ask ......................................................................................................................... 1
a) Pre-ictal .................................................................................................................................. 2
b) Ictal ........................................................................................................................................ 2
c) Post-ictal ................................................................................................................................ 2
d) Other questions to ask ............................................................................................................ 2
3. Diagnosis.................................................................................................................................... 3
a) Clinical categories .................................................................................................................. 3
b) Etiology .................................................................................................................................. 5
4. Differential Diagnosis ................................................................................................................ 6
5. Physical Examination................................................................................................................. 7
6. Investigations ............................................................................................................................. 7
a) Blood tests .............................................................................................................................. 7
b) Lumbar puncture .................................................................................................................... 8
c) Imaging .................................................................................................................................. 8
Appendix ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Table I: Summary of Five Seizure Syndromes found in Children................................................. 8
Table II: Neurocutaneous Disorders Causing Seizures in Infancy ............................................... 9
References ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 11

1. Background
Seizures are the clinical manifestation of aberrant, abnormal electrical activity in
the cortical neurons. Thus they can be regarded as a symptom of cerebral
pathology and are not in themselves a disease. The term epilepsy is not
synonymous with seizures. Epilepsy, which comes from the Greek epilepsia
ea i g aki g h ld f , i a ch ic di de cha ac e i ed b he e de c f
spontaneous, recurrent seizures and requires at least two unprovoked seizures to
be considered as a diagnosis.

Seizures occur in 3% to 5% of all children, making it the most common

neurological disorder of the pediatric population. Febrile seizures occur in 2% to
4% of the pediatric population whereas epilepsy occurs in approximately 1%.

2. Questions to ask
It is important to get a detailed account of the event or spell from a witness in order
to answer the three questions above (Was the spell in question a seizure? What
type of seizure? Cause of seizure?).

Start with asking the witness to describe the spell from beginning to end. Then ask
focused questions to ascertain details. Questions regarding the possible seizure
can be divided into pre-ictal, ictal, and post-ictal categories.
a) Pre-ictal

Was there any warning before the spell? If so, what was the
warning?
Did the child complain of abdominal discomfort, fear or any other
unpleasant sensations before the spell?
What was the child doing before the spell?
Was the child asleep or awake prior to the event?
Was the child sleep deprived prior to the spell?
Were there any triggers for the spell?
Was the child well before the spell or was there a fever or illness?

b) Ictal
Was the child responding during the spell or was consciousness
impaired?
Did the child remember anything that occurred during the spell?
Were there any repetitive behaviors during the episode, such as lip
smacking, pulling at clothing, and constant rubbing of objects.
Did any body movements occur?
Was there any perioral cyanosis?
Wha a he child ki c l d i g he e e ?
Did the patient lose continence during the spell?
How long did the spell last?
How many episodes has the child experienced?
How often do the spells occur?

c) Post-ictal
How did the patient feel after the spell?
Did the child seem confused and tired after the spell?
How long did it take for the child to get back to baseline condition?
Did the child suffer from a headache after the spell?

d) Other questions to ask:

Has the child ever had any seizures before? Febrile seizures?
Ask about past medical history, developmental history and current
medications to rule out a symptomatic seizure.
Is there any family history of seizures?
 3. Diagnosis

a) Clinical categories

The categorization of seizures is important for determining treatment and

prognosis

In order to describe the seizure you need to answer two main questions:

i. Is the seizure simple or complex?

simple seizure - consciousness is completely intact

complex seizure - consciousness is impaired

ii. Is the seizure partial or generalized?

Partial seizure - involves a focal area of the brain and therefore

affects a specific portion of the body. The clinical presentation of
the partial seizure at onset indicates the location of the epileptic
focus in the brain.
Generalized seizure - affects the whole body and involves the
entire cerebral cortex.

Below follows a description of the different clinical seizure categories:

Focal in onset
No impairment of consciousness
Usually short lived, rarely longer than 10 to 20
seconds
Associated with either motor, somatosensory/special
sensory, autonomic or psychic (dysphasic,
Simple Partial
dysmnesic, cognitive, affective, illusions, structured
hallucinations) symptoms.
Partial Seizures

Characteristic EEG demonstrates unilateral spikes or

sharp waves in anterior temporal region, but
discharges may be bilateral or multifocal on occasion.

Focal in onset
Impairment of consciousness either from onset or
simple partial developing into complex partial seizure.
Average duration of seizure is 1 to 2 minutes, which is
Complex significantly longer than simple partial or absence
Partial seizures.
Aura common, signals seizure onset in 30% children,
who typically complain of epigastric discomfort, fear,
or an unpleasant feeling. Auras occur before
impairment of consciousness.
 Automatisms (stereotypical, repetitive behaviors)
characteristic of complex partial seizures and present
in 50% to 75% of cases. Automatisms occur after
impairment of consciousness and include: lip
smacking, picking or pulling at clothing, constant
rubbing of objects, and walking.
EEG usually shows sharp waves or spike discharges
in the anterior temporal or frontal lobe, but may on
occasion reveal multifocal spikes.

Partial with Focal in onset but then spreads throughout cortex

secondary causing a generalized seizure.
generalization
Seizures typically start around age 5 to 6 years.
Characterized by short (5 to 20 second) lapses in
consciousness, speech or motor activity.
No aura
No postictal drowsiness
Automatisms may be present during the seizure and
usually involve eye blinking or lip smacking.
Absence
Often provoked by hyperventilation for 3 to 4 minutes.
seizures
EEG demonstrates 3 cycles per second generalized
Or
Generalized Seizures (all complex)

spike and wave activity.

Petit mal
Atypical absence seizures may involve myoclonic
(Fr.: small bad)
movements of the face or body and may result in loss
of body tone causing the patient to fall. Furthermore,
the onset and cessation of the seizure may not be
abrupt as in typical absence seizure.
EEG in atypical absence seizures often reveals either
2 to 2.5 or 3.5 to 4.5 cycles per second generalize
spike and wave activity.

Characterized by sudden loss of consciousness and

tonic-clonic, tonic or clonic contractions.
Tonic contraction is an intense, generalized muscle
contraction.
Tonic-clonic Clonic contractions are rhythmic, often symmetric
seizures muscle contractions.
Or Tonic-clonic contractions start with a tonic contraction
Grand mal and then produce clonic contractions.
(Fr.: big bad) Perioral cyanosis may be present.
Loss of bladder may occur.
Seizure is often followed by 30 to 60 minute deep
sleep and postictal headache.

Tonic Involve intense muscle contraction only.

 seizures

Involve rhythmic, often symmetric muscle contractions

Clonic seizure
only.

Myoclonus refers to the spasm of a muscle or a group

of muscles
Myoclonic These seizures occur either in isolation or in
seizure connection with other seizure types.
Clinically characterized by brief, repetitive, symmetric
muscle contractions.

Atonic Sudden loss of postural tone causes child to fall.

seizures May be difficult to differentiate from other seizure
types

b) Etiology

Seizures are either symptomatic or idiopathic.

1) Symptomatic seizures are caused by:

CNS Infection
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- Abscess
CNS Trauma
- Acute trauma
- Previous trauma may lead to scar tissue formation
Cerebrovascular
- Infarction
- Hemorrhage
- Arteriovenous malformation
- Venous thrombosis
Hypoxic
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
Metabolic
- Hypoglycemia
- Electrolyte disturbances
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Neurologic effects of systemic disease
Toxic
- Drugs
 - Drug withdrawal
- Alcohol
- Alcohol withdrawal
- Lead poisoning
Tumour
Congenital CNS malformations
- Cortical dysplasia
- Lissencephaly
Neurocutaneous syndromes (e.g. tuberous sclerosis)
Fever febrile seizures are discussed elsewhere (link fibrile seizure paper)

2) Idiopathic seizures

Idiopathic seizures occur in the absence of any underlying CNS pathology.

Patients with idiopathic seizures are thought to have an increased susceptibility for
seizures yet have normal brain function. Approximately 50% of seizure disorders
in children can be placed in a seizure syndrome with unknown etiology.

The details of all the seizure syndromes are beyond the scope of this paper. See
Table I in appendix for a brief reference to five seizure syndromes found in children

4. Differential Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis for seizure includes:

Syncope
Breath holding spell
Aspiration
GERD
Panic attack
Daydreaming
Conversion or pseudoseizures
Benign sleep myoclonus
Benign paroxysmal vertigo
Complicated migraine
Motor tics
Complex behaviors
Decorticate posturing
5. Physical Examination

All children who present with a possible seizure should have a complete pediatric
exam.
Pay particular attention to the following elements of the physical exam:

a) Vitals, including temperature

b) Height, weight and head circumference - plot on a growth chart to determine
percentiles
c) Developmental stage of child in gross motor, fine motor, language and
social domains. A delay indicates a cerebral insult. The insult may be
remote (e.g. cerebral palsy), chronic ongoing (e.g. brain tumour), or may be
secondary to another disease. Furthermore, developmental delay may
occur in infantile spasms, an idiopathic epilepsy syndrome (See Table I).
d) Signs of trauma. Direct trauma to the brain can be a cause or consequence
of seizures.
e) Signs of increased intracranial pressure link to Signs of inc_ICP.doc
f) Skin lesions may suggest a neurocutaneous diseases underlying seizure
activity. See the Table II in appendix for neurocutaneous disorders that can
cause seizures in infancy.
g) Special tests:
Fundoscopy look for papilledema - suggests an increase in
intracranial pressure (link to Signs of inc_ICP.doc).
Neurologic exam - looking for focal deficits - indicates symptomatic
seizure. Include components:
- Mental status
- Cranial nerves
- Motor
- Reflexes
- Sensory
- Coordination and gait
Br d i ki e a d a Ke ig e (link to Kernig.Brudzinski.doc)
positive test suggest meningitis

6. Investigations

The particular investigations for each patient depend on the differential generated
after the history and physical examination.

a) Blood tests
In general, all patients should have acute symptomatic causes of seizures
ruled out. Therefore all children should have the following tests perforemed:
 CBC and differential
Electrolytes
Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium
Blood glucose level

Additional tests need to be considered when investigating the possibility of

the following specific conditions:
Hemorrhagic basis INR, PTT
Toxic basis blood levels of suspected drugs and metabolites
Genetic disease possible karyotype and other tests specific to
illness
Metabolic disease tests specific to disease, may include:
- Ammonia
- Lactate
- Pyruvate
- Amino acids
- Urine organic acids

b) Lumbar puncture
Lumbar puncture is indicated in:
Infants <12months with a first time febrile seizure to rule out
meningitis
Infants 12 to 18 months with a simple febrile seizure
Any child with meningeal signs

c) Imaging
CT scan - indicated if head trauma is present/suspected
MRI indicated if the child has new or focal neurological deficits,
recurrent seizures and/or papilledema
EEG - children with their first seizure in the absence of fever (as
recommended by the American Academy of Neurology). *** Note that
many neurologists feel that this is unnecessary as EEG findings
rarely impact treatment recommendations. Most offer EEGs more
selectively when the seizure is focal, in a child < 1 year and
associated with neurological abnormalities.

Appendix

Table I: Summary of Five Seizure Syndromes found in Children (1)

Table II: Neurocutaneous Disorders Causing Seizures in Infancy (2)
References
1. Haslam, Robert H. A. Nonfebrile seizures. Pediatrics in review. 1997 Feb; 18(2):
40.
2. Fenichel, Gerald M. Clinical Pediatric Neurology, 3rd ed. Philadelphia: W.B.
Saunders, 1997
3. Goetz, Christopher G. Textbook of Clinical Neurology, 2nd ed. Philadelphia : W.B.
Saunders, 2003.
4. Hill, Alan. Neonatal Seizures. Pediatrics in Review. 2000 Apr; 21(4): 117-121.
5. Lindsay, Kenneth W. and Ian Bone. Neurology and Neurosurgery Illustrated, 4 th
ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone, 2004.
 6. Polin, Richard A. and Mark F. Ditmar. Pediatric Secrets, 3rd ed. Philadelphia:
Hanley and Belfus, 2001.
7. www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic527.htm (October 18, 2004) First Seizure:
Pediatric Perspective. Author: Kenneth J. Mack, MD, PhD, Senior Associate
Consultant, Department of Child and Adolescent Neurology, Mayo Clinic.
8. www.emedicine,com/neuro/topic415.htm (October 18, 2004) Seizures and
Epilepsy: Overview and Classification. Author: Jose E. Cavazos, MD, PhD,
Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Acknowledgements
Writer: Sharan Mann