United States: A recent finding indicates that around two-thirds of children experiencing subtle epileptic seizures are not identified during emergency room visits.
Jacqueline French, a researcher and a professor of neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said, “We do not know how many people are walking around with seizures that they are unaware of, and we are unaware of,” and “That number is absolutely unknown, but I suspect it’s larger than we would like to think.”
How was the study conducted?
French and her team analyzed data from 83 patients aged 12 years and older who were receiving epilepsy treatment in 34 hospitals across Europe, the US, and Australia. Seventy percent of these patients had visited the emergency room before receiving an official epilepsy diagnosis.
Epilepsy is a serious neurological problem in which local populations of nerve cells show a spontaneous discharge of excessive electric impulses that are the immediate cause of seizures. The diagnosis of epilepsy is given if, within a year, a person has more than one seizure with no apparent cause.
Speaking of French, he cannot get motor seizures which are a less severe form in which children merely appear somehow absent-minded or demonstrate slight uncontrolled movements. Besides, the cycle can also consist of changes in emotions – greeting first and then disappearing, intangible thoughts, or unusual sensations. The muscle jerks is the case of the motor seizures which is a result of the abnormal muscle functioning.
Researchers sought to discover whether doctors or patients attribute this disordered behavior to epilepsy. Genetic factors were at the base of these significant discoveries, which were published on May 1st in the journal Neurology.
The interesting thing is that four children got admitted to the emergency department for the symptoms which might point to the non-motor seizures, while the rest 44 already had the past history of such seizures. Among all the 39 kids, the first diagnosed motor seizure was the first for 21 children.
Stephanie Tischler, a pediatrician affiliated with Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center – Suffern in Stony Brook, NY, noted that the subtlety of these seizures makes them difficult to notice.
Tischler explained, “People rush to the emergency room or call 911 for a motor seizure because it is so obvious, but parents can often attribute a non-motor seizure to something else. For example, if a child experiences a visual or auditory hallucination, it could be mistaken for schizophrenia or a migraine.”
What were the study’s findings?
The researchers observed that even after seeking treatment, the initial symptoms of non-motor seizures often go unnoticed, as emergency room physicians identified only 33 percent of non-motor seizures compared to 81% of motor seizures.
Lead author Nora Jandhyala, a student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, stated, “The fact that emergency department providers did not recognize that these children had a non-motor seizure before their visit meant that they were not being accurately diagnosed with epilepsy,” as reported by US News.