Patient's question:
The child has already started elementary school. Recently, they have been complaining of abdominal pain, and it was initially thought to be a cold. However, it has persisted for some time, and sometimes they also experience vomiting. Is it possible that the child's abdominal pain and vomiting could be epilepsy?Doctor's answer:
The forms of epilepsy, except for petit mal and bilateral severe myoclonus, can occur in any type of epilepsy. Focal meningeoencephalitis of the frontal pole often causes generalized seizures without warning; lesions in the frontal central region commonly cause contralateral motor or sensory focal seizures; temporal lobe lesions cause psychomotor seizures, while occipital lobe lesions are often associated with visual auras. The seizure types of most patients are relatively stable, while a few may change. In early and mid-stage epilepsy, approximately 25% of patients may experience spontaneous remission and cessation within 2 years or slightly longer. However, late-stage epilepsy tends to worsen, potentially evolving from focal seizures to generalized seizures, and severe cases may also exhibit memory impairment, personality disorders, and intellectual disability.Recommendations: The diagnosis of epilepsy is generally based on electroencephalography (EEG): EEG is an important auxiliary diagnostic tool for epilepsy. With the use of multiple provocation methods, special electrodes, long-term or video EEG, the positive rate exceeds 80%. It can detect features such as spike-wave complexes or burst rhythms, which are significant for localizing focal epilepsy. However, 1-3% of normal individuals may exhibit epileptic discharges, and a considerable number of patients in the interictal period have normal EEG results. Therefore, EEG alone should not be used to diagnose or rule out epilepsy.