From the e-medicine site: (Permission is granted for republication as this is a public service website) See
http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic3.htm for the full text.
Abscence Seizures:
Background: Absence seizures are a form of generalized seizures. They were described first by Poupart in 1705, and later by Tissot in 1770, who used the term "petit access." The name absence was used by Calmeil in 1824. The association of impaired consciousness and 3-Hz spike-and-slow-wave complexes on electroencephalogram (EEG) was described by Gibbs, Davis, and Lennox in 1935.
Absence seizures occur in both idiopathic and symptomatic generalized epilepsies. In the idiopathic, or primary generalized epilepsies (ie, with age-related onset), absence seizures are seen in childhood absence epilepsy (CAE, or pyknolepsy), juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE), and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME, or impulsive petit mal). These seizures are called typical absence seizures and usually are associated with 3-Hz spike-and-slow-wave complexes on EEG. In CAE they are frequent and brief, lasting just a few seconds (pyknoleptic); some children can have hundreds per day. In other epilepsies, particularly those with an older age of onset, they can last several seconds to minutes and may occur only a few times a day (not necessarily every day). Myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizures also may be present, especially in syndromes with older age of onset. In these syndromes the discharge frequency may be faster than 3 Hz.
In the symptomatic generalized epilepsies, absence seizures are associated with slow spike-wave complexes (1.5-2.5 Hz; also called "sharp-and-slow-wave complexes") and are termed atypical absence seizures.
Pathophysiology: The etiology of idiopathic epilepsies with age-related onset is genetic. Of patients with these epilepsies, 15-40% have a family history; concordance in monozygotic twins is 75%. Other forms of idiopathic or genetic epilepsy (eg, febrile convulsions, generalized tonic-clonic [GTC] seizures) may be seen in other family members.
Causes: After noncompliance with treatment, lack of sleep is the most frequent cause of seizure exacerbations. Drugs that lower the seizure threshold (eg, alcohol, cocaine, high-dose penicillin, isoniazid [INH] overdose, neuroleptics) are more likely to cause seizures in patients with epilepsy. Withdrawal of alcohol, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives is also a common cause
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Me again -- so basically an abscense seizure is a subtype of petit mall epilepsy, at least from what I can understand.
I hope that they didn't find anything on the MRI to indicate some type of physcial cause.
Hang in there, any siezure disorder sucks, but most people live long and productive lives witht the disorder.
Don't freak out... wait for the tests to come back.
:ttripledown:
and/or very very painful
: for hospital food.
My Feedback:
In order to get my license, i need 2 years seizure free.
