Patient's question:
What are the causes of epilepsy in infants? A friend's child was diagnosed with epilepsy shortly after birth, and it is said that this condition is difficult to treat. They have sought medical attention from many places for thorough examination and treatment. What kind of help is needed: What are the causes of epilepsy in infants?Doctor's answer:
Epilepsy is a chronic disease characterized by repeated episodes of transient brain dysfunction and endocrine imbalance caused by abnormal discharges of brain neurons. The prenatal factors leading to infantile epilepsy include abnormal fetal brain development, impaired fetal cerebral vascular communication, prenatal fetal infection, maternal consumption of hormones, anesthetics, alcohol during pregnancy, resulting in congenital metabolic defects in the fetus, as well as maternal hereditary convulsions during pregnancy. The factors during labor include various types of birth injuries, intracranial or extracranial fetal infection, and accidental application of anesthetics to the infant's scalp by the pregnant woman during labor. Postnatal factors include metabolic disorders, postpartum infection, intracranial hemorrhage, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, among which perinatal respiratory distress and aspiration are the most common causes, followed by metabolic abnormalities and birth injuries.