Types Of SeizuresPresented By:

Myeshi Briley,HS-BCP

Types Of Seizures

• Many different disorders can affect the brain, causing different types of

seizures. What occurs during an epileptic seizure depends on the area of the

brain involved. Seizures can range from mild to completely debilitating.

Types Of Seizures

• Tonic – stiffening of muscles lasting a few seconds up to a minute

• Atonic – brief loss of muscle tone, causing falls (also known as "drop

attacks" or "drop seizures")

• Tonic-clonic – begins with stiffening of the limbs (the tonic phase),

followed by jerking of the limbs and face (the clonic phase)

• Absence – staring spells lasting for many seconds

• Myoclonic – sudden muscle jerks lasting for many seconds up to a minute

• Clonic – a pattern of jerking movements

• Partial – limited to a specific area of the brain; sometimes consciousness

may be lost

Types Of Seizures

• There are six types of generalized seizures. The most common and

dramatic, and therefore the most well known, is the generalized convulsion,

also called the grand-mal seizure. In this type of seizure, the patient loses

consciousness and usually collapses. The loss of consciousness is followed

by generalized body stiffening (called the "tonic" phase of the seizure) for

30 to 60 seconds, then by violent jerking (the "clonic" phase) for 30 to 60

seconds, after which the patient goes into a deep sleep (the "postictal" or

after-seizure phase). During grand-mal seizures, injuries and accidents may

occur, such as tongue biting and urinary incontinence

Types Of Seizures

• Absence seizures cause a short loss of consciousness (just a few seconds)

with few or no symptoms. The patient, most often a child, typically

interrupts an activity and stares blankly. These seizures begin and end

abruptly and may occur several times a day. Patients are usually not aware

that they are having a seizure, except that they may be aware of "losing

time."

Types Of Seizures

Myoclonic seizures consist of sporadic jerks, usually on both sides of

the body. Patients sometimes describe the jerks as brief electrical

shocks. When violent, these seizures may result in dropping or

involuntarily throwing objects.

Types Of Seizures

• Clonic seizures are repetitive, rhythmic jerks that involve both sides of the

body at the same time.

Types Of Seizures

• Tonic seizures are characterized by stiffening of the muscles.

Types Of Seizures

• Atonic seizures consist of a sudden and general loss of muscle tone,

particularly in the arms and legs, which often results in a fall.

Types Of Seizures

• Partial Seizures

• Partial seizures are divided into simple, complex and those that evolve

into secondary generalized seizures. The difference between simple and

complex seizures is that during simple partial seizures, patients retain

awareness; during complex partial seizures, they lose awareness.

Types Of Seizures

• Simple partial seizures are further subdivided into four categories

according to the nature of their symptoms: motor, autonomic, sensory, or

psychological. Motor symptoms include movements such as jerking and

stiffening. Sensory symptoms caused by seizures involve unusual

sensations affecting any of the five senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, or

touch). When simple partial seizures cause sensory symptoms only (and not

motor symptoms), they are called "auras."

Types Of Seizures

• Simple partial seizures

• Autonomic symptoms affect the autonomic nervous system, which is the

group of nerves that control the functions of our organs, like the heart,

stomach, bladder, intestines. Therefore autonomic symptoms are things like

racing heart beat, stomach upset, diarrhea, loss of bladder control. The only

common autonomic symptom is a peculiar sensation in the stomach that is

experienced by some patients with a type of epilepsy called temporal lobe

epilepsy. Simple partial seizures with psychological symptoms are

characterized by various experiences involving memory (the sensation of

deja-vu), emotions (such as fear or pleasure), or other complex

psychological phenomena.

Types Of Seizures

• Complex partial seizures, by definition, include impairment of awareness.

Patients seem to be "out of touch," "out of it," or "staring into space" during

these seizures. There may also be some "complex" symptoms called

automatisms. Automatisms consist of involuntary but coordinated

movements that tend to be purposeless and repetitive. Common

automatisms include lip smacking, chewing, fidgeting, and walking.

• The third kind of partial seizure is one that begins as a focal seizure and

evolves into a generalized convulsive ("grand-mal") seizure. Most patients

with partial seizures have simple partial, complex partial, and secondarily

generalized seizures. In about two-thirds of patients with partial epilepsy,

seizures can be controlled with medications. Partial seizures that cannot be

treated with drugs can often be treated surgically.

Types Of Seizures

• Non-epileptic Seizures

• What is a non-epileptic seizure ?

• Non-epileptic seizure (SE-zhur), or NES, is a short period of symptoms that

change how you move, think, or feel. NES looks like an epileptic seizure

(convulsion). With NES, there are no electrical changes in the brain. With

epileptic seizures, abnormal changes in the brain are present during the

attack. NES is more common in women and usually affects those between

15 to 35 years of age. NES is a serious condition and early diagnosis and

treatment are needed to prevent further problem.

• Non-epileptic seizures are paroxysmal events that mimic an epileptic

seizure but do not involve abnormal, rhythmic discharges of cortical

neurons.[1] They are caused by either physiological or psychological

conditions. The latter is discussed more fully in psychogenic non-epileptic

seizures.

Types Of Seizures

• What causes a non-epileptic seizure?

• There are two types of NES. Physiologic which is caused by conditions that

affect blood, oxygen and sugar available to the brain, and psychogenic

which is caused by the body's reaction to severe psychologic (mental)

stress.

Types Of Seizures

• Physiologic NES

– Alcohol: Drinking alcohol too much and too often. Different people

have different ideas about what too much means. How often you drink

is as important as how much you drink alcohol. Alcohol is found in

beer, wine, liquor, such as vodka and whiskey, or other adult drinks.

– Drugs: Using illegal or street drugs.

Types Of Seizures

– Syncopal attacks: Sudden drops in blood pressure leading to fainting

spells.

– Hypoglycemia: Episodes of low blood sugar.

– Sleep disorders: Abnormal sleeping patterns.

Types Of Seizures:Reference:

• http://www.banzel.com/LGS/Seizures.aspx

• http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/types-of-seizures-their-

symptoms

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-epileptic_seizure

• http://www.drugs.com/cg/non-epileptic-seizures.html

Types Of Seizures

Reference:• American Academy of Family Physicians

11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway

Leawood , KS 66211-2680

Phone: 1- 913 - 906-6000

Phone: 1- 800 - 274-2237

Web Address: http://www.aafp.org

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

3615 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Washington , DC 20016

Phone: 1- 202 - 966-7300

Web Address: http://www.aacap.org

Types Of Seizures

Thank You,

Myeshi Briley, HS-BCP