Petit mal seizure

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Central nervous system

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Petit mal seizure

Alternative Names:

Seizure - petit mal; Absence seizure; Seizure - absence

Symptoms:

TYPICAL

Muscle activity changes
- No movement
- Hand fumbling
- Fluttering eyelids
- Lip smacking
- Chewing
Consciousness changes
- Staring episodes (unintentional)
- Lack of awareness of surroundings
- Sudden halt in conscious activity (movement, talking, etc.)
- May be provoked by hyperventilation or flashing lights, in some cases
- Abrupt beginning of seizure
- Each seizure lasts no more than a few seconds
- Full recovery of consciousness, no confusion
No memory of seizure

ATYPICAL

Atonic seizure
- No muscle movement
- Slumping, loss of posture
- Loss of muscle tone
- Falling down
Consciousness changes
- Unintentional staring
- Lack of awareness of surroundings
- Sudden stop of conscious activity (movement, talking, etc.)
- Hand fumbling
- Fluttering eyelids
- May be provoked by hyperventilation, in some cases
- May have slower, gradual beginning of seizure
- Each lasts only seconds to minutes
- Recovery may be slower
- May have short period of confusion or bizarre behavior
No memory of seizure

Note: Unexplained difficulties in school and learning difficulties may be the first indication of petit mal seizures.

Signs and tests:

The physical examination is usually normal, although some neurologic abnormalities may be present in some patients.

Transmission of information from nerve cell to nerve cell occurs by an electrochemical process that can be detected as electrical activity by an electroencephalograph (EEG). A single or multiple EEG exams may be necessary to show changes typical of petit mal seizures. Occasionally, a patient may need to have EEG monitoring from 1 to several days to detect these EEG changes.

Various laboratory tests, a head CT scan, or a head MRI may be used to rule out specific causes of the seizures.

Review Date: 7/2/2004
Reviewed By: Joseph V. Campellone, M.D., Division of Neurology, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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