Epilepsy in children

Epilepsy in children is one of the most common neurological diseases. In childhood, this disease occurs in 3-4% of the total population. Epileptic manifestations, prognosis, and approaches to therapy have significant differences. There are benign and malignant forms of the disease. The first pass independently and do not require treatment. Malignant forms have a progressive course, and ongoing treatment is often ineffective. Epileptic seizures in early childhood occur atypically, the clinical picture is characterized by a lack of clear symptoms that do not correspond to changes in the encephalogram.

Epilepsy in children implies the presence of characteristic repetitive, unprovoked seizures, the basis of which is the electric charge of neurons in the brain, which is characterized by high synchrony.

Distinguish a large number of forms of the disease. In a separate type, absense epilepsy in children is distinguished , which is characterized by severe clinical course and severe complications.

All seizures begin with a loss of consciousness, which occurs suddenly, the stiffness of the skeletal muscles of the body and limbs, stopping breathing, dilating the pupils. After that, after thirty seconds, a typical attack of tonic-clonic seizures follows. It is characterized by rhythmic twitching of the hands, legs, neck, head, considerable sweating, drooling. Due to the cessation of breathing, the face becomes cyanotic (bluish). Sometimes there is a bite of the tongue, involuntary urination. A total of forty types of seizures in children are identified, which have different clinical symptoms, prognosis, and approaches to therapy. However, it is common to divide the disease into three types: generalized (both hemispheres take part in the occurrence of the process), focal ones (the seizure originates from a certain department of the brain), undifferentiated (all modern diagnostic methods do not allow attributing these cases to the first two types).

Epilepsy in children requires accurate diagnosis, as this affects the effectiveness of therapy, as well as the prognosis of the subsequent course of the disease. To confirm the epilepsy, an electroencephalography of the brain is performed, which fixes the electric charges produced by the body. Also carry out additional workloads - hyperventilation, photostimulation, sleep deprivation. Often there is a need for a re-study to establish the correct diagnosis (epilepsy in infants). Significantly improves the diagnosis of EEG-video monitoring, which includes simultaneous recording of an electroencephalogram and video surveillance of the patient. A rather good result is provided by computer and magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography.

Epilepsy in children is based on the principle of gradual drug remission, which in the future will be accompanied by a gradual withdrawal of medicines. Thus, a reduction in clinical symptoms is achieved and a normal standard of living is ensured.

The main stages of therapy of the disease: the detection and elimination of the causes of seizures, the coping of all provoking factors, the formulation of the most accurate diagnosis, the selection of adequate medications for treatment. It is also necessary to resolve the issue of further education and social issues. The most important step is to determine the means for treating epileptic seizures. Antiepileptic drugs are used for these purposes, including levithiracetam, topiramate, tiagabine, felbamate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, oxacarbazepine, and vigabatrin.