Question

What are the differences between pediatric and adult epilepsy?

Answer

  1. Grand mal seizures: These account for about 50 percent of epileptic seizures and typically occur around the age of 1 year or between the ages of 14 and 17. Grand mal seizures can be divided into four stages: (1) Prodrome: Symptoms include dizziness and abdominal discomfort. (2) Absence phase: Sudden loss of consciousness, falling to the ground, head back, stiff limbs, due to diaphragmatic spasms, the patient makes a “bark” sound, cyanosis of the face, dilated pupils, cessation of breathing, lasting for several seconds. (3) Tonic phase: Tonic twitching of the whole body, often biting the tongue, saliva in the mouth, accompanied by incontinence of urine and feces, usually lasting 1 to 3 minutes. (4) Recovery phase: It usually takes several minutes to regain consciousness, the patient cannot recall the seizure process, and there is pain and fatigue throughout the body. Some patients may experience aggressive behavior, running around, shouting, hitting or destroying objects during the recovery phase. 2. Petit mal seizures: Absence seizures, characterized by brief periods of loss of consciousness where the patient may briefly lose consciousness, most completely, occasionally with a milder impairment of consciousness where they are aware of their surroundings and can hear questions but cannot answer them. The impairment of consciousness is brief and intermittent.