Patient's question:
Male, 4 years old. Two years ago, he had a fall and underwent a craniotomy, which was successful. In the past two months, he has been experiencing symptoms similar to epilepsy, sometimes once or twice a day. Could you please advise on the possible causes and whether he can be treated at your hospital?Doctor's answer:
Many patients with epilepsy experience a prodromal phase before an attack, characterized by symptoms such as dizziness and stomach discomfort. In more severe cases, the attack may manifest as sudden loss of consciousness, cessation of breathing, twitching of the limbs, clenched fists, upward rolling of the eyes or deviation of the black pupils to one side, bluish complexion, foaming at the mouth, often accompanied by tongue bite and urinary incontinence. Patients should not worry, as epilepsy can be clinically cured. Patients should maintain a positive attitude. Wishing you a speedy recovery.Advice: The diagnosis of epilepsy is generally based on an electroencephalogram (EEG): EEG is an important auxiliary diagnostic tool for epilepsy. With the combination of various provocation methods, special electrodes, long-term or video EEG, the positive rate exceeds 80%. It may show spike-wave complexes, burst rhythms, etc., and is of great significance for localizing focal epilepsy. However, 1-3% of normal individuals may have epileptic discharges, and a significant number of patients have normal EEGs during the interictal period. Therefore, EEG alone should not be used to diagnose or rule out epilepsy.