Question
A nine-year-old child experienced sudden loss of consciousness accompanied by drooling symptoms, with two such occurrences within an hour, along with convulsions at night. Similar symptoms recurred the next morning and at noon, although a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed normal brain function and the diagnosis was idiopathic epilepsy. After starting medication, no further seizures occurred, but the symptoms recurred today. What should be done?
Answer
The characteristic symptoms of a seizure include sudden loss of consciousness followed by tonic-clonic convulsions. During a seizure, symptoms often include screaming, cyanosis of the face, incontinence, tongue biting, drooling of saliva or blood, and dilated pupils. The convulsions last for several seconds to minutes before stopping naturally, and the patient enters a state of lethargy upon awakening, experiencing brief dizziness, agitation, fatigue, and no memory of the seizure afterward. If the seizures continue indefinitely and the patient remains in a comatose state, it is known as status epilepticus, which is often life-threatening.