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Over 40 Different Types Of Seizures - Revised

Sun, 03/25/2007 - 03:04

It has been said repeatedly that there are over 40 different types of seizures with more or less only the most 'popular' listed. Let's see if we can locate the ones that aren't. These types of seizures affect someone and I feel need to be noted. I'm curious to see how many can be located. Anyone interested in helping me find them, please list what you find here along with their description. Thank you! Take care and have a good day! -Spiz This thread is a revision of the first one in order to make changes and additions.

A Note from epilepsy.com's Editors (August 2017)

This forum post was originally created in 2007. Over the years, many of the links provided in the comments have expired or may not have been updated. To find reliable, expert-verified information, visit the following sections of this site:

In late 2016, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) approved a new way of organizing seizures that reflects recent advances in our understanding of the brain and seizures. This new system will make diagnosis and classification of seizures easier and more accurate. Learn more here.

These terms don’t change what occurs during a seizure, but offer a different way of naming seizures. More accurate ways of naming seizures can lead to more appropriate treatment.

We also want to take this opportunity to remind site visitors...

Comments

Absence Seizures : Absence

Submitted by spiz on Sun, 2007-03-25 - 04:30
Absence Seizures : Absence seizures are brief episodes of staring.During the seizure, awareness and responsiveness are impaired. People who have them usually don't realize when they've had one. There is no warning before a seizure, and the person is completely alert immediately afterward... Atypical Absence Seizures :The person will stare (as they would in any absence seizure) but often is somewhat responsive. Eye blinking or slight jerking movements of the lips may occur... Atonic Seizures :Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension. "Atonic" (a-TON-ik) means "without tone," so in an atonic seizure, an epileptic seizure characterized by sudden loss of muscle tone; may cause the head to drop suddenly, objects to fall from the hands, or the legs to lose strength, with falling and potential injury; usually not associated with loss of consciousness.Close muscles suddenly lose strength. The eyelids may droop, the head may nod, and the person may drop things and often falls to the ground. These seizures are also called "drop attacks" or "drop seizures." The person usually remains conscious... Another name for this type of seizure is "akinetic" (a-kin-ET-ik), which means "without movement." Benign Rolandic Epilepsy ::A typical attack involves twitching, numbness, or tingling of the child's face or tongue (a partial seizure), which often interferes with speech and may cause drooling... Childhood Absence Epilepsy :The seizures of childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) are usually staring spells during which the child is not aware or responsive... Clonic Seizures :Clonic seizures consist of rhythmic jerking movements of the arms and legs, sometimes on both sides of the body... Complex Partial Seizures :These seizures usually start in a small area of the temporal lobe or frontal lobe of the brain. They quickly involve other areas of the brain that affect alertness and awareness... Frontal Lobe Epilepsy :When areas that control movement (called motor areas) are affected, abnormal movements occur on the opposite side of the body. Seizures beginning in motor areas can cause weakness or the inability to use certain muscles, such as the muscles that allow someone to speak... Febrile Seizures :Children aged 3 months to 5 years may have tonic-clonic seizures when they have a high fever. These are called febrile seizures (usually pronounced FEB-rile) and occur in 2% to 5% of all children... - Complex Febrile : * Age, neurological status before the illness, and fever are the same as for simple febrile seizure. * This seizure is either focal or prolonged (ie, >15 min), or multiple seizures occur in close succession. - Symptomatic Febrile : * Age and fever are the same as for simple febrile seizure. * The child has a preexisting neurological abnormality or acute illness. Hypothalamic Hamartoma :This syndrome consists of * abnormally early puberty * partial seizures with laughing as a frequent feature * increased irritability and aggression between the seizures. The partial seizures may be simple or complex and there may be secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures... Infantile Spasms :Infantile spasms consist of a sudden jerk followed by stiffening. Often the arms are flung out as the knees are pulled up and the body bends forward ("jackknife seizures")... Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy :People with JME have myoclonic seizures (quick little jerks of the arms, shoulder, or occasionally the legs), usually in the early morning, soon after awakening. The myoclonic jerks sometimes are followed by a tonic-clonic seizure. Absence seizures also may occur... Juvenile Absence Epilepsy :All children with juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE) have absence seizures but usually they are limited to a few episodes per day. Tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures are usually the symptom that brings the patient to the doctor... Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome :The Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is very serious but uncommon. Three basic features define it: * Generalized seizures of more than one type, which are difficult to control * Slowness of intellectual growth and associated personality difficulties * A specific EEG abnormality called a slow spike-and-wave pattern, found when the child is awake, and generalized fast rhythms during sleep... Landau-Kleffner Syndrome :In the typical case, a child between 3 and 7 years of age experiences language problems, with or without seizures. The language disorder may start suddenly or slowly. It usually affects the child's understanding of spoken language the most... Myoclonic Seizures :brief, shock-like jerks of a muscle or a group of muscles. "Myo" means muscle and "clonus" (KLOH-nus) means rapidly alternating contraction and relaxation—jerking or twitching—of a muscle... Mitochondrial Disorders :The metabolic disorders involving the mitochondria affect different parts of the body, including muscle and brain... Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsies :Progressive myoclonic epilepsies feature a combination of myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizures. Unsteadiness, muscle rigidity, and mental deterioration are often also present... Psychogenic Seizures :Events that look like seizures but are not due to epilepsy... Reflex Epilepsies :Reflex epilepsies are a group of epilepsy syndromes in which a certain stimulus brings on seizures... Rasmussen's Syndrome :is associated with slowly progressive neurologic deterioration and seizures in children. Seizures are often the first problem to appear... Simple Partial Seizures :They are remarkably different from person to person, depending on the part of the brain where they begin. The one thing they all have in common is that the person remains alert and can remember what happens... Secondarily Generalized Seizures :Seizures of this kind start as a partial seizure, that is, they start in one limited area of the brain. The forms they take vary as much as other partial seizures... Temporaral Lobe Epilepsy :The features of seizures beginning in the temporal lobe can be extremely varied, but certain patterns are common... Tonic-clonic Seizures :This type is what most people think of when they hear the word "seizure." An older term for them is "grand mal... Tonic Seizures :Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension at rest. In a "tonic" seizure, the tone is greatly increased and the body, arms, or legs make sudden stiffening movements. Consciousness is usually preserved... - List originally posted by Solis -

Psychomotor Seizures

Submitted by spiz on Mon, 2007-03-26 - 02:23

Psychomotor Seizures (Complex Partials) :These seizures usually start in a small area of the temporal lobe or frontal lobe of the brain. They quickly involve other areas of the brain that affect alertness and awareness... Limbic Epilepsy :Limbic epilepsy is seizure foci arising in limbic brain areas; limbic areas are regions in the temporal and frontal lobes, which are involved with memory and emotion... Partial-Onset Seizures :Partial-onset seizures begin in 1 focal area of the cerebral cortex. Partial-onset seizures are further classified as simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures, or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures... Generalized-Onset Seizures :Generalized-onset seizures have an onset recorded simultaneously in both cerebral hemispheres. Generalized-onset seizures are classified into 6 major categories: (1) absence seizures, (2) tonic seizures, (3) clonic seizures, (4) myoclonic seizures, (5) primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and (6) atonic seizures... Status Epilepticus :Any seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes based on natural history data that show typical generalized convulsive seizures that resolve spontaneously after 3-5 minutes... Petit Mal (Absence Seizure) :Absence seizures are brief episodes of staring.During the seizure, awareness and responsiveness are impaired. People who have them usually don't realize when they've had one. There is no warning before a seizure, and the person is completely alert immediately afterward... Abdominal Epilepsy :Abdominal epilepsy describes a group of gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances caused by epileptiform seizure activity seen on EEG tracing... Akinetic Seizures (Atonic Seizure) ::Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension. "Atonic" (a-TON-ik) means "without tone,... Aura :A warning before a seizure; a simple partial seizure occuring within seconds before a complex partial or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizure, or it may occur alone; also a warning before a migraine headache. Autonomic Seizures (Simple Partial) :These common seizures may include strange or unpleasant sensations in the stomach, chest, or head... Massive Bilateral Myoclonus :Massive myoclonus are a generalized seizure type that consists of a single or a burst of axial jerks affecting the whole body although mainly the upper limbs... Catamenial Epilepsy :refers to seizure exacerbation in relation to the menstrual cycle. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to seizure exacerbation at the time of menstruation... Drop Seizures (Atonic Seizure) :Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension. "Atonic" (a-TON-ik) means "without tone... Emotional Seizures :A type of simple partial seizure which manifests as exaggerated emotions without cause, most commonly fear, though joy, rage, anger or sadness may also occur. Focal Seizures (Partial Seizures) :Focal seizures (also called partial seizures) are seizures which are characterized by: * preserved consciousness in simple focal seizures * impaired consciousness (dream-like) in complex focal seizures * experience of unusual feelings or sensations * sudden and inexplainable feelings of joy, anger, sadness, or nausea * altered sense of hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, or feeling things that are not real, having a change or loss of consciousness (may appear dream-like), * strange repetitious behaviors such as blinks, twitches, and mouth movements. Gelastic Seizures :Gelastic seizures are brief outbursts of emotion, usually in the form of a laugh or a cry... Grand Mal (Tonic-Clonic) :As implied by the name, they combine the characteristics of tonic seizures and clonic seizures... Jacksonian March :Jacksonian seizures are initiated with abnormal electrical activity within the primary motor cortex. They are unique in that they travel through the primary motor cortex in succession... Lafora Disease :a hereditary disease characterised by the presence of inclusion bodies, known as Lafora bodies, within the cells of neurons, heart, liver, muscle, and skin... Motor Seizures (Simple Partial) :These cause a change in muscle activity. For example, a person may have abnormal movements such as jerking of a finger or stiffening of part of the body... Multifocal Seizures :Whilst most seizures can be neatly split into partial and generalized, there exists some that don't fit. For example: the seizure may be generalized only within one hemisphere. Alternatively there may be many focal points (multifocal seizures) that are distributed in a symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern. Neonatal Seizures :Most seizures in the neonate are focal, although generalized seizures have been described in rare instances... Nocturnal Seizures :Nocturnal seizures are usually tonic-clonic. They might occur just after a person has fallen asleep, just before waking, during daytime sleep, or while in a state of drowsiness. People who experience nocturnal seizures may find it difficult to wake up or to stay awake... Photosensitive Epilepsy :seizures occur when an individual is exposed to visual stimuli, usually flashes of light of a particular frequency. In other reflex epilepsies, seizures may be provoked by auditory, olfactory, or vestibular stimuli... Pseudoseizures (Psychogenic Seizures) :Events that look like seizures but are not due to epilepsy are called "nonepileptic seizures." A common type is described as psychogenic (si-ko-JEN-ik), which means beginning in the mind... Sensory Seizures (Simple Seizures) :These cause changes in any one of the senses. People with sensor seizures may smell or taste things that aren't there; hear clicking, ringing, or a person's voice when there is no actual sound... Subtle Seizures :Manifestations include: * Ocular phenomena (staring, blinking, eye deviation, eye opening) * Oral phenomena (mouthing, chewing, sucking, smiling) * Autonomic phenomena (change in blood pressure and/or heart rate, pallor, increased salivation or secretions; central apnoea occurring rarely as the only seizure manifestation) * Fragmentary body movements (limb posturing, swimming, pedalling)... Sylvan Seizures (Rolandic Epilepsy) :A typical attack involves twitching, numbness, or tingling of the child's face or tongue (a partial seizure), which often interferes with speech and may cause drooling... Visual Reflex Seizures :Visual reflex seizures induced by complex stimuli may be triggered by patterned and flashing displays that are now ubiquitous. The seizures may be clinically generalized, but unilateral and bilateral myoclonic attacks also may be triggered... Withdrawal Seizures :This type of seizure is seen when certain medications, such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines, are stopped abruptly...Withdrawal seizures are common when a person with alcoholism is trying to quit drinking...

Psychomotor Seizures (Complex Partials) :These seizures usually start in a small area of the temporal lobe or frontal lobe of the brain. They quickly involve other areas of the brain that affect alertness and awareness... Limbic Epilepsy :Limbic epilepsy is seizure foci arising in limbic brain areas; limbic areas are regions in the temporal and frontal lobes, which are involved with memory and emotion... Partial-Onset Seizures :Partial-onset seizures begin in 1 focal area of the cerebral cortex. Partial-onset seizures are further classified as simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures, or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures... Generalized-Onset Seizures :Generalized-onset seizures have an onset recorded simultaneously in both cerebral hemispheres. Generalized-onset seizures are classified into 6 major categories: (1) absence seizures, (2) tonic seizures, (3) clonic seizures, (4) myoclonic seizures, (5) primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and (6) atonic seizures... Status Epilepticus :Any seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes based on natural history data that show typical generalized convulsive seizures that resolve spontaneously after 3-5 minutes... Petit Mal (Absence Seizure) :Absence seizures are brief episodes of staring.During the seizure, awareness and responsiveness are impaired. People who have them usually don't realize when they've had one. There is no warning before a seizure, and the person is completely alert immediately afterward... Abdominal Epilepsy :Abdominal epilepsy describes a group of gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances caused by epileptiform seizure activity seen on EEG tracing... Akinetic Seizures (Atonic Seizure) ::Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension. "Atonic" (a-TON-ik) means "without tone,... Aura :A warning before a seizure; a simple partial seizure occuring within seconds before a complex partial or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizure, or it may occur alone; also a warning before a migraine headache. Autonomic Seizures (Simple Partial) :These common seizures may include strange or unpleasant sensations in the stomach, chest, or head... Massive Bilateral Myoclonus :Massive myoclonus are a generalized seizure type that consists of a single or a burst of axial jerks affecting the whole body although mainly the upper limbs... Catamenial Epilepsy :refers to seizure exacerbation in relation to the menstrual cycle. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to seizure exacerbation at the time of menstruation... Drop Seizures (Atonic Seizure) :Muscle "tone" is the muscle's normal tension. "Atonic" (a-TON-ik) means "without tone... Emotional Seizures :A type of simple partial seizure which manifests as exaggerated emotions without cause, most commonly fear, though joy, rage, anger or sadness may also occur. Focal Seizures (Partial Seizures) :Focal seizures (also called partial seizures) are seizures which are characterized by: * preserved consciousness in simple focal seizures * impaired consciousness (dream-like) in complex focal seizures * experience of unusual feelings or sensations * sudden and inexplainable feelings of joy, anger, sadness, or nausea * altered sense of hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, or feeling things that are not real, having a change or loss of consciousness (may appear dream-like), * strange repetitious behaviors such as blinks, twitches, and mouth movements. Gelastic Seizures :Gelastic seizures are brief outbursts of emotion, usually in the form of a laugh or a cry... Grand Mal (Tonic-Clonic) :As implied by the name, they combine the characteristics of tonic seizures and clonic seizures... Jacksonian March :Jacksonian seizures are initiated with abnormal electrical activity within the primary motor cortex. They are unique in that they travel through the primary motor cortex in succession... Lafora Disease :a hereditary disease characterised by the presence of inclusion bodies, known as Lafora bodies, within the cells of neurons, heart, liver, muscle, and skin... Motor Seizures (Simple Partial) :These cause a change in muscle activity. For example, a person may have abnormal movements such as jerking of a finger or stiffening of part of the body... Multifocal Seizures :Whilst most seizures can be neatly split into partial and generalized, there exists some that don't fit. For example: the seizure may be generalized only within one hemisphere. Alternatively there may be many focal points (multifocal seizures) that are distributed in a symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern. Neonatal Seizures :Most seizures in the neonate are focal, although generalized seizures have been described in rare instances... Nocturnal Seizures :Nocturnal seizures are usually tonic-clonic. They might occur just after a person has fallen asleep, just before waking, during daytime sleep, or while in a state of drowsiness. People who experience nocturnal seizures may find it difficult to wake up or to stay awake... Photosensitive Epilepsy :seizures occur when an individual is exposed to visual stimuli, usually flashes of light of a particular frequency. In other reflex epilepsies, seizures may be provoked by auditory, olfactory, or vestibular stimuli... Pseudoseizures (Psychogenic Seizures) :Events that look like seizures but are not due to epilepsy are called "nonepileptic seizures." A common type is described as psychogenic (si-ko-JEN-ik), which means beginning in the mind... Sensory Seizures (Simple Seizures) :These cause changes in any one of the senses. People with sensor seizures may smell or taste things that aren't there; hear clicking, ringing, or a person's voice when there is no actual sound... Subtle Seizures :Manifestations include: * Ocular phenomena (staring, blinking, eye deviation, eye opening) * Oral phenomena (mouthing, chewing, sucking, smiling) * Autonomic phenomena (change in blood pressure and/or heart rate, pallor, increased salivation or secretions; central apnoea occurring rarely as the only seizure manifestation) * Fragmentary body movements (limb posturing, swimming, pedalling)... Sylvan Seizures (Rolandic Epilepsy) :A typical attack involves twitching, numbness, or tingling of the child's face or tongue (a partial seizure), which often interferes with speech and may cause drooling... Visual Reflex Seizures :Visual reflex seizures induced by complex stimuli may be triggered by patterned and flashing displays that are now ubiquitous. The seizures may be clinically generalized, but unilateral and bilateral myoclonic attacks also may be triggered... Withdrawal Seizures :This type of seizure is seen when certain medications, such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines, are stopped abruptly...Withdrawal seizures are common when a person with alcoholism is trying to quit drinking...

Re: Psychomotor Seizures

Submitted by spiz on Sat, 2007-03-31 - 02:38
Epilepsia Partialis Continua :EPC is a form of partial SE(Status Epilepticus) with simple motor manifestations that are maintained for over 1 hour, with clonic activity restricted to one body part and recurring at fairly regular intervals. The following modifying factors apply: * Motor activity often is modified by sensory stimuli. * Frequency is usually 0.1-6 Hz. * An occurrence of EPC can continue for long periods of time (sometimes years) without spreading, although spread can occur at times. * EPC often is associated with postictal or interictal weakness. * Clinical evolution distinguishes 2 forms (ie, Bancaud type 1, Bancaud type 2): type 1 is usually symptomatic of a focal brain lesion, and the prognosis is the same as that of the associated lesion; type 2 is associated with progressive, idiopathic, neurological deterioration, usually in the form of Rasmussen encephalitis...

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