ABSTRACT
Cortical developmental malformations are an important cause for epilepsy. The epileptic disorder usually begins with sporadic seizures, followed by gradually increasing seizure frequency and culminating in epilepsia partialis continua. We report the de-novo occurrence of focal status epilepticus accompanying hyperpyrexia in two male children, aged 18 months and 4 years. One child had prior neuro-developmental delay, while in the other, developmental milestones were normal. In both instances, there were no seizures prior to the presenting neurological illness. Cerebrospinal fluid examination was normal in both the cases. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed extensive pachygyria in one patient and focal cortical thickening in the other. Therefore, cortical developmental malformation may be suspected as an underlying aetiology in children presenting with de-novo status epilepticus and hyperpyrexia.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Cortex/abnormalities , Child Development , Child, Preschool , Fever/etiology , Humans , Infant , Male , Status Epilepticus/etiologyABSTRACT
Parents of 352 children with history of epilepsy were interviewed by a pretested, open ended questionnaire to ascertain the nature of first aid care during an epileptic fit, complications arising out of this care, and parents' perceptions regarding causes of epilepsy. The commonest form of care provided was to force liquids by mouth (50.6%), followed by pressure over body to restrain convulsive movements (13.0%) or to put some object to force the teeth open (11.9%). The various causes of epilepsy according to the parents were: due to an evil spirit (26.7%0, heritable causes (13.9%), physical or mental weakness (6.6%) and brain damage (5.9%). The need of imparting knowledge and clear understanding about epilepsy among parents is emphasized.