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A
Absence seizures
Frequent, brief events (5-30 seconds) with abrupt onset, impairment of consciousness and staring followed by an abrupt return to baseline function. If a person is speaking when the absence seizure occurs, he or she will stop talking, stare and, when the brief seizure is over, resume the sentence as if nothing had occurred. The person usually does not even recognize that a seizure occurred.
Atonic seizures
Seizures that involve a loss of tone in the head, upper torso or whole body. In the most severe cases, patients with atonic seizures collapse to the ground face first.
B
Benign tumor
A tumor that is not dangerous to your child’s health. Tumors associated with tuberous sclerosis are benign.
C
Cancerous
A word used to describe a tumor or growth in the body that contains cancer cells. Tumors associated with tuberous sclerosis are not cancerous.
Complex partial seizures
Seizures that involve an alteration in a person’s level of consciousness coupled with changes in motor activity (jerking of one extremity or side of the body) and automatisms (repetitive chewing, swallowing, picking at clothes).
CT scan
A scan that uses X-rays to take pictures of many different parts of the body.
D
Drop attacks
A term used by some clinicians to refer to both atonic and tonic seizures.
E
EEG
An electroencephalogram is a recording of the electrical activity of the brain.
EEG / video monitoring Seizure monitoring using simultaneous EEG and video recording. The monitoring can be prolonged, lasting from hours to days, and records both seizures and non-seizure behavior.
Epilepsy
A disease characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Epilepsy afflicts an estimated 40 million people worldwide and approximately 2.3 million in the United States.
Epileptic seizure
An abnormal, excessive, sudden discharge of the neurons in the brain. In essence, a seizure is like an “electrical storm of the brain.”
G
Generalized onset seizures
Seizures that begin in one part of the brain and then travel throughout the brain.
Grand mal seizures
See tonic-clonic seizures.
M
MRI
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. An MRI uses a powerful magnet, radio waves and a computer to produce images of the inside the body. MRI can be used to take small section pictures of just about any body part.
Myoclonic seizures
Bilateral (predominantly in the arms), irregular, arrhythmic seizures that can occur singularly or repetitively. These seizures may be so intense that some patients fall. The seizures usually occur shortly after waking and can interfere with dressing, combing hair, brushing teeth and activities in the kitchen. Myoclonic seizures are often brought on by sleep deprivation, stress, alcohol or menstruation.
P
Partial onset seizures
Seizures in small parts of the brain.
Petit mal seizures
See absence seizures.
Postictal period
The time following a seizure, where the patient will be very tired and usually sleeps. Recovery back to baseline following a seizure can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.
S
Simple partial seizures
Seizures that transiently disrupt or alter speech, motor activity, vision, smell or taste. Simple partial seizures are not associated with any alteration in a child’s level of consciousness.
T
Tonic seizures
Seizures involving stiffening of all extremities. These can often lead to falls. At times, it is hard to tell visually whether the child fell due to loss of tone (atonic seizure) or stiffening (tonic seizure). Because of this difficulty separating atonic and tonic seizures, clinicians often lump atonic and tonic seizures together and call them “drop attacks.”
Tonic-clonic seizures
Previously called grand mal seizures, these begin with stiffening of all extremities (tonic phase) followed by rhythmic jerking of all extremities (clonic phase). The tonic phase usually lasts about 30 to 60 seconds, and the clonic phase one to two minutes. The overwhelming majority of tonic-clonic seizures last less than three minutes.
Tuberous sclerosis
A disorder in which benign tumors develop in various organs of the body, including the brain, eyes, skin and kidneys.
Tumor
An abnormal mass of tissue in the body. Tumors can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
V
Video / EEG monitoring
Simultaneous EEG and video recording of patients between and during seizures. The recording can be prolonged monitoring, lasting from hours to days.
