Emergency Departments Frequently Miss Signs of Epilepsy in Children
A subtle type of seizure goes undetected two-thirds of the time in pediatric emergency departments, a new study shows. The work focuses on ânonmotorâ seizures, which cause children to âzone outâ and stare into space or fidget. Children may also feel sudden changes in emotions, thoughts, or sensations. According to the authors, improving recognition of nonmotor seizures may speed up the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children, who often struggle to describe their symptoms to physicians, or are not asked to do so. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the analysis involved 83 preteens and teens in treatment for epilepsy. Because seizures are easy to overlook or confuse for anxiety and panic attacks, the authors say it is critical that healthcare providers screen for signs of nonmotor seizures. To better understand how well such nonconvulsive episodes are spotted by physicians and patients alike, the researchers first explored how likely a child was to seek medical attention for their symptoms before they were aware that they had epilepsy.