Seizure disorders afflict a sizable fraction of the population, and infants are no exception. Epilepsy, in fact, is the most common neurological disorder in children, according to Dr. Timothy F. Hoban, assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at Loyola University Medical Center. But epilepsy isn't the only origin of seizures in infants--high fevers can also spark seizures.
Because the very young cannot articulate their problems in the way older children and adults can, parents and caregivers must be especially aware of the signs of seizures in this age group.
Neurological Signs
Loss of consciousness is a very common, but not a mandatory, indicator of a seizure. Some seizures involve no loss of consciousness, while others, such as complex partial seizures, entail some or complete loss of consciousness.
Other neurological signs that may be are difficult to detect in very young persons include distorted impressions concerning memory or time, emotional manifestations such as anxiety or euphoria, alterations to senses of taste and smell, headache and confusion.
Motor Signs
Seizures are classified as either generalized, which involves the whole brain, or partial, which involves only one side of the brain. Generalized seizures include grand mal, myoclonic, clonic, tonic and atonic seizures.
Grand mal seizures are characterized by convulsions and muscle rigidity affecting the entire body; myoclonic seizures involve sporadic whole-body "jerking" movements; clonic seizures mimic myoclonic seizures, but with the "jerking" in regular and repetitive patterns rather than sporadic patterns; tonic seizures involve stiffening of the muscles rather than jerking; and atonic seizures differ from the others because they result in loss of muscle tone.
Partial seizures also include the tensing or relaxing of a muscle or group of muscles. Jerking, muscle rigidity, spasms and head-turning occur, but these are localized rather than whole-body events.
Dermatological and Other Signs
Hyperhidrosis, which means excessive sweating, "goosebumps" and flushing often occur when infants are in the throes of a seizure, especially when children are known to have a fever. Screaming and loss of bowel control often occur.
In an absence seizure--a type of generalized seizure also known as a petit-mal seizure--infants do not manifest obvious outward signs of a seizure but appear to "zone out" or become unresponsive, something often mistaken for behavioral problems when persisting into older childhood.
