'subtle seizures' often lead to undiagnosed epilepsy

the research, published in the journal epilepsia , focused on patients with focal epilepsy in which seizures are located in just one area of the brain. patients who experienced “disruptive seizures,” including shaking or jerking of the limbs, were diagnosed with epilepsy a median of 60 days after the episode. patients who exhibited “subtle seizures” with symptoms including déjà vu, visual distortions, or experiencing a dreamlike state while awake, had a median diagnosis time of 616 days and, in some cases, as long as six years.

“our study highlights how common the early and subtle signs of focal epilepsy are,” says dr. jacqueline a. french, director of translational research and clinical trials for epilepsy at nyu langone health and senior investigator of the study, in a press release . “we must do a much better job of recognizing them before people go undiagnosed, untreated, and with the potential to cause harm.”

some types of seizures are easy to miss

there are multiple types of epilepsy and seizures, characterized by the patterns of abnormal brain behaviours and the physical symptoms they elicit. in focal seizures , the abnormal brain functioning begins in a specific area and the patient typically does not lose consciousness.

other types of seizures, such as absence seizures , might look like the patient is daydreaming or zoning out for a moment. the patient may not be aware that this has just occurred.

approximately 300,000 canadians live with epilepsy in canada with about 20,000 new cases being diagnosed each year, according to a 2013 – 2014 statistics canada report . however, according to the research from nyu langone health, there could be scores of individuals who are currently undiagnosed.

emjones@postmedia.com |  @jonesyjourn

share story

share this story

'subtle seizures' often lead to undiagnosed epilepsy

email

facebook

x

linkedin

copy story link